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Author Topic: Useless Fact's Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-28-2004 09:49 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - How do I keep pigeons away from my roof and yard? We checked with our Bird Control Category to answer this one. Outside of yelling and screaming (or perhaps purchasing a pet), your best bet is to get one of the following anti-pigeon devices: * Roost Inhibitor: This is a non-toxic gel that creates a sticky, uncomfortable surface for roosting birds. You can spray it on window sills, ledges, rain gutters, or other avian-attracting objects. * Spikes: Fairly self-explanatory -- you've probably seen them lining the outdoor ledges of public buildings. Would you want to land on a strip of tightly-packed metal prongs? * Bird Nets: Tough, lightweight webbing that seals off open attics, skylights, and such. Also particularly useful if you're considering starting a vineyard.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-28-2004 10:00 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - How long does a dollar bill remain in circulation? We don't want to see any money going out of circulation, especially at times when the economy is going down the toilet. However, because of the constant handling of paper money, dollar bills have approximately the same life expectancy as the latest boy band from Orlando. According to links in our Paper Money Category, worn bills are destroyed by Federal Reserve Banks during ordinary currency processing. As you probably guessed, the note most frequently replaced is the $1 bill. There are currently four billion $1 bills in circulation, and the life expectancy of each is approximately 18 months. Bills of larger denominations stick around longer since they are handled less than the $1 bill.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-29-2004 11:43 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why is the Pentagon shaped the way it is? LUKOL Pentagon Category contains links to several amazing sites about Pentagon. Surprisingly, the Department of Defense (DoD) is fairly forthcoming about their headquarters. The Pentagon is one of the world's largest office buildings -- it houses over 26,000 employees and boasts 17.5 miles of corridors. Yet, despite its enormous size, "it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building." Brigadier General Brehon B. Sommervell, Chief of the Construction Division of the Office of the Quartermaster General, ordered the neo-classical building as a temporary solution to the War Department’s critical shortage of space. Built in an amazing 16 months, the Pentagon cost $83 million (an investment returned within 7 years), consolidated 17 War Department buildings, and opened for business January 15, 1943. Although the DoD doesn't mention how the shape of the building was determined, they do provide a handy link to the Defense Technical Information Center web site, which fills in the blanks: "The original site chosen for the Pentagon was a tract of land known as Arlington Farms. The site was bordered by five roadways thus dictating the concept of a pentagonal shaped building." While President Roosevelt later ordered the building moved to a different location, the original design concept -- "an open air court surrounded by five concentric pentagonal rings (or corridors) traversed by ten spoke-like corridors" -- was retained. Perhaps not coincidentally, the pentagon symbol is linked with the planet Venus, often associated with warfare, and is also a basic design for fortresses.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-29-2004 12:13 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What happens if you swallow chewing gum? One of the links in our Digestive Category reassures us that the body will get rid of the gum in due time. However, it does point out that sugar-free gum, whether swallowed or chewed in large amounts, can cause digestive problems. The sugar substitutes (hexitol, sorbitol, and mannitol, to name a few) found in sugar-free gum are not absorbed, but pass into the small intestine and colon, where they can cause diarrhea. We wanted a second opinion, so we headed over to the Loyola University Health System, where a newsletter focusing on health myths addressed the topic of swallowing chewing gum. In their opinion, it's not the healthiest thing you can do, but if you do swallow your gum, it will simply pass through your system undigested into your stool (much like fiber). The consensus seems that it's best to toss your chewed-out gum in the trash, but if you do happen to swallow a piece, don't worry -- it won't sit in your tummy for seven years.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-29-2004 12:59 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why is the pirate flag called the Jolly Roger? A search on origin of jolly roger set us on our way to the LUKOL Pirate Category One of the links listed in the directory suggested that the original skull-and-crossbones flag was derived from the french "jolie rouge", meaning "pretty red," and refers to a red pennant also known as the "jolie rougere", flown by 17th and 18th century French buccaneers in the Caribbean. Another link states: In many parts of the Caribbean, the "Jolly Roger" was the equivalent of a happy face: it meant the pirate ship was willing to take prisoners. The appearance of a red flag, however, signified no prisoners, and the pirates would slaughter crew and passengers to a man. One more link mentions that roger was synonymous with rogue in 18th century parlance, while others write about the distinctive flags of their swashbuckling favorites, including Bartholomew Roberts (the notorious Black Bart) and "Jolly Roger Rickrack, the simply gorgeous terror of six of the seven seas." Yet another link confirmed that blood red flags were flown by hard-hearted pirates to indicate that they'd be taking no prisoners (sparing no lives). This red flag was more frightening than the buccaneer's basic white skull on black ground. A skull and crossbones was meant to inspire terror, a horned skull suggested a tormented death; other signature flags depicted grisly variations on a morbid theme. We also learned that jolly roger is associated with "Old Roger," a known nickname of the devil himself, but that the French derivation of the term is more widely accepted.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 08-04-2004 12:40 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What is a High Tea? Hmmm...a cup of Earl Grey in Denver? Actually, we weren't exactly sure, so we turned to the trusty LUKOL Tea Category. One of the links from the category proved insightful and explained the history of this British tradition. High Tea was an afternoon meal that started in the 1700s. It was the main meal of the working class and usually involved some pretty heavy fare. Interestingly enough, High Tea led to an edible invention by the Earl of Sandwich, and soon tea sandwiches made the menu. The page goes on to explain that these days, High Tea has been elevated to a more elegant affair. It is typically served around 3:00 or 4:00 pm, and can include any one of a number of different varieties of tea, though herbal and fruit infusions may be frowned upon. Another link from the category states that High Tea originated in the 1800s rather than the 1700s but agrees on the rest of the details. We learned that High Tea consists of: ...a variety of dishes such as Cornish pasties, Welsh rabbit, Scotch woodcock and various other meat and fish dishes. Also included are plenty of buns, crumpets, biscuits and jams, as well as an elaborate array of cakes and pastries and, of course, steaming pots of hot tea.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 08-17-2004 10:26 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why do we have toenails and fingernails? We find nail polish to be a good enough reason for having them but thought you might be looking for a more scientific answer. We set out to find one by consulting the always reliable LUKOL Beauty Tips category. According to some links from the directory,the human and primate nail corresponds to the claw, hoof,or talon of other animals.Human nails protect the tips of the toes and fingers,while fingernails help us pick up small objects and scratch ourselves. On the other hand, the feet of primates are capable of gripping objects, just like their hands, so their toenails have much the same function as fingernails. However, human toenails seem to be an evolutionary leftover. On one of the links, podiatrist Michael Zapf agrees that nails are essential for manipulation and scratching (and he points out the importance of scratching in a primate or human's life). But the doctor debunks the notion that nails exist to protect the tips of toes and fingers. He argues that your digits wouldn't be especially sensitive without nails. Dermatologist Mitch Bender appears to agree: "People can get along without nails -- toenails more than fingernails -- but they do make daily life a bit easier." So, though there's some disagreement about whether or not toenails and fingernails serve to protect our digits, our resources all agree that our nails help us pick up little stuff like pencils, peanuts, and even bottles of nail polish.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 08-29-2004 01:52 PM                        Rated G What do you call the carved woman on the bow of a ship? What are its origins? A "figurehead" is any carved figure on the bow of a ship -- they're not strictly limited to women. Figureheads through the ages have included snakes, horses, eagles, unicorns, elephants, bulls, lions, and prominent politicians. Why put a figurehead on your boat? For good luck, of course. Sailors are a superstitious breed. The ancient Chinese and Egyptian sailors anointed their ships with occuli (eyes), to help them find their way across rough seas. The Phoenicians later added wooden carvings of animist deities including serpents and birds. The figureheads protected the ship, and inspired fear in the hearts of enemies. It wasn't until the late 1770s that human figures began appearing on the bow of ships. Exotic foreigners, fierce soldiers, and proud statesmen were quite popular, along with figures modeled after ship owners' wives. This probably tied into sailors' view of ships as female entities. Figurehead carving is artisan's work today -- commissioned and incredibly labor intensive. There are still active maritime woodcarvers out there.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 09-01-2004 11:10 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What is the origin of the hockey term "hat trick"? Watching a hockey player charge down the ice and slap the puck past a floundering goalie for his third goal of the game is one of the most exhilarating plays in all of sports. The term used to describe such a feat, "hat trick," has long been linked to hockey, and, after a bit of searching, we discovered its unusual origin. One of the links in our Hockey History category suggests the term came from the English game of cricket and cites The Oxford English Dictionary, which explains: "The feat of a bowler who takes three wickets by three successive balls: originally considered to entitle him to be presented by his club with a new hat or some equivalent." We next checked out an article titled "Puck talk: A guide to hockey lingo" from "The Dallas Morning News". In addition to learning that the terms "mucker," "pipe-fitter," "plumber," and "grinder" are interchangeable, we unearthed another interesting tidbit about the term "hat trick." In the article, John Halligan, an NHL executive who writes a hockey trivia column for the NHL web site, says in the 1940s, a Toronto haberdasher used to give Maple Leaf hockey players free hats when they scored three goals in a game. Halligan also agrees that the term "hat trick" probably evolved from cricket. So, what happens to all those hats that litter the ice? Well, it seems Dave Kindred, a columnist at "The Sporting News", has been asked that question a few times. As we would have guessed, the hats are usually given to charities.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 09-09-2004 12:37 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Who invented the Global Positioning System and how much did it cost to develop it? One of the links in the LUKOL GPS category explained that on June 26, 1993, the U.S. Air Force launched the 24th Navstar satellite into orbit, completing a network of satellites known as the Global Positioning System. However, this new navigation technology was not invented by one person, but was a result of advances in the fields of engineering and science. From another link in the category we learned that the U.S. Department of Defense developed GPS for use at sea during the Cold War. The military needed a way to pinpoint the exact positions of surfaced nuclear submarines in a matter of minutes. Developing such a system wasn't cheap! The final cost of developing the GPS was $12 billion.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 09-17-2004 01:53 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - How thick is the ice on a hockey rink? We went straight to NHL Facts category to answer this question. Sure enough, the About the NHL page says that the ice on a hockey rink is approximately 3/4" thick. The thicker the ice, the softer and slower the ice becomes for skaters -- and hockey players don't want that! several links provided further details on rink ice. Bruce Tharaldson, the icemaker for the San Jose Arena, explains the process to create a premium ice surface for hockey. Before the pre-season games start in September, the arena pumps freezing cold salt water through pipes that run under a concrete slab that makes up the arena floor. When the slab is cold enough, layers of water are applied to it. That 3/4" ice surface consists of eight to ten thin layers of ice. The first few layers are painted with game markings and logos. The upper layers seal the paint and provide the playing surface. This ice stays in place all season long, from September through April -- or even longer if playoff games are necessary. When the arena is used for other sports or musical concerts, a floor is constructed on top of the ice. Arenas maintain the ice by using a Zamboni -- a large mechanical ice resurfacer that scrapes away loose ice, flushes dirt out of grooves, and adds a layer of heated water that freezes and restores a smooth surface. It takes 10,211 gallons of frozen water to create a hockey rink. The ice is kept at 16 degrees Fahrenheit for hockey playing. However, figure skaters prefer a rink that's kept at 22 degrees Fahrenheit, since they require softer ice to land their jumps.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 09-18-2004 09:12 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - What is freemasonry? Freemasonry calls itself the world's oldest and largest fraternity. Freemasonry and Masonry are interchangeable words for the same organization, which has its roots in the medieval trade guilds of stonemasons. In fact, the most widely used symbols of Freemasonry are the tools of the stonemason -- a square and compass. The organization was formally created in London in 1717, and quickly spread to the American colonies and across Europe. Today, there are probably four to six million men in the fraternity worldwide. According to MasonicInfo.com, the mission of Masonry is: "to teach a man the duty he owes to God, his neighbor, and himself." Charity work and community involvement are important parts of Masonic life. Freemasonry is not affiliated with any religious group, but members are required to profess belief in a supreme being. Masonic groups are called lodges, and the United Grand Lodge of England is the oldest body of Freemasonry. Membership is restricted to adult males, and lodges do not usually recruit members. Potential members must seek out a Mason or a Masonic lodge and apply to the organization (hence their slogan: "2B1ASK1"). Freemasonry has been decried as a secret society and even a political conspiracy or religious cult. But Masons believe that what little secrecy they have is simply so members of the fraternity can identify each other by things like handshakes and passwords. They state that the rituals of Masonic meetings are used to reinforce the central values of the organization, such as morality and belief in a supreme being. Many Masonic activities (especially charitable works) are open to the general public. Freemasonry.net has a frequently asked questions page that addresses many anti-Masonic suspicions. This FAQ points out that Freemasons aim to keep the organization separate from both politics and specific religions. Masonic lodges do not support political campaigns, and they discourage political discussion inside the lodge. Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsees, and even Wiccans have become Freemasons -- and all are encouraged to maintain their religious affiliations. Masonic ritual refers to the supreme being as the "Great Architect of the Universe," to avoid disharmony between different religions. Despite the critics, there are many notable Freemasons. Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, writer Leo Tolstoy, comedian Richard Pryor, and at least 14 U.S. presidents (including George Washington) are just a few famous Masons.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-10-2004 08:44 AM                        Rated G We turned to our Meteorology category for this one, and here's what we found: Jet streams were first discovered by World War II pilots flying across the Pacific. These super-winds tend to occur between six and nine miles above the Earth's surface, and are a few hundred miles wide and three miles thick. Essentially, they are long, narrow, fast-moving currents of air that can reach speeds of up to 300 miles per hour. They generally flow from west to east, and have a significant impact on weather patterns. A jet stream can act as a boundary between cold polar air and warm tropical air. For example, a jet stream moving southward across the United States can bring a cold front all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. When you encounter turbulence in an aircraft after you've reached cruising altitude, you may be flying across a jet stream. Intrepid balloonists always try to take advantage of jet streams when attempting to circumnavigate the globe.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-13-2004 08:43 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - What's the difference between a comet, a meteor, and an asteroid? Luckily, Lukol directory has just what we needed - Asteroids Comets and Meteors category, which has the links to answer today's question. Asteroids and comets are both classified as near-Earth objects. Asteroids are made of rock or metal and are thought to have been created in the warmer inner solar system. Comets are composed of ice, rock, and organic (carbon-based) compounds, and are believed to have formed in the cold outer solar sytem. Scientists believe both are "...ancient remnants of the earliest years of the formation of our solar system more than four billion years ago." When asteroids collide, meteroids, smaller rocky bodies, often result. Meteroids are also formed when a comet passes near the sun, and the heat releases dust particles from the comet's icy tail. When a meteroid or asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it ignites, creating a visible streak of light called a meteor. If the object doesn't vaporize completely and crashes into the Earth, it's called a meteorite.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-18-2004 02:20 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What is a healthy percentage of body fat? We browsed through the Lukol Fitness Tips category to turn up many different estimations of healthy body fat. Most sources agree that the human body requires a certain amount of fat for good health. Fat helps regulate body temperature, store energy, and cushion and insulate organs. The percentage of body weight that makes up this "essential fat" is around 4% of body weight for men and 10% for women. Beyond that, there's a somewhat wide range of what is considered a healthy percentage of body fat. According to an article from Medscape.com, the American Dietetic Association recommends that men have 15-18% body fat and women have 20-25% body fat. Healthy male athletes might be as low as 5-12%body fat,and healthy female athletes could be as low as 10-20%. Dr. C. Everett Koop's site, ShapeUp.com, breaks down healthy body fat ranges by both gender and age. Men under 39 years of age should have 8-19% body fat, and women under 39 years of age should have 21-32%. Older men may range from 11% to 24%, and older women may range from 23% to 35%. "Health Check Systems" quotes the American Council on Exercise and says men's body fat should be 6-25%, and women's should be 14- 31%.  |  IP: Logged

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