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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 10-17-2005 12:29 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why is it that in Western culture women with long hair are considered attractive? Some links in the Hair Beauty category state that it's not just Western culture; in most world cultures the women have long hair. The only place we can think of where most women have short hair is in sub-saharan Africa. Women like long hair because they can style it in many more ways than short hair. People's brains are wired to be attracted to "typical" features. In other words, your brain evaluates all the women you see and calculates what is their average hair length. This average, or "typical", hair length then becomes the "ideal length". Since most women wear their hair long, the ideal hair length is going to be long. What about women with short haircuts that are still attractive? If you have never seen a short-haired woman before, you will not like it when you see it for the first time. But if you see enough women with short hair, your brain will recognize that a new category of "ideal" is needed. It will then calculate what is the ideal length for short hair, while continuing to maintain a separate ideal length for long hair. That is how you can be attracted to both short and long haired women. Your brain creates two separate categories, "long-haired women" and "short-haired women" and evaluates their attractiveness using different ideals. Finally, Christianity has had only a small role, if any, in keeping women's hair long in the West. It's true that St. Paul wanted women to have long hair, and at times the catholic church has mandated it, but most women liked their hair long anyway. Long hair would still be common without any influence from the church.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-18-2005 08:15 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - What is the quickest route to world domination for the average person? We visited the links in the Politics category and as we see it, there are three basic steps to global dominion. The first thing you need to do is to get the attention of the people you wish to control. The quickest way to control group of people is to make them afraid. Fear has a funny way of making otherwise reasonably intelligent people very stupid and quick to panic. Create a very scary threat (of course the threat can't be associated with you in any way) just as everyone is starting to feel the fear, rise up and say, "I'll save you! Follow me and you shall survive!" This is also a great way to create a diversion so people don't find out what your true intentions are. It's kind of like; "Look, over there", when the people look away, you're no longer in their focus. After they are afraid and busily trying to protect themselves from an imaginary foe, that's when you can really get down to business. You can do all sorts of sneaky underhanded transactions to increase your wealth and power without anyone noticing. Anything for which you must obtain mass approval, slip it in under the guise of being necessary to "protect the people". This is how you can take away their rights, making them much easier control because the law will be on your side. You must also control the media if you're to have any chance at this world domination racket. It's all about your commercial image for those who would never be able to know you in person. Most importantly, you have to tell the people what to think. This is easier to do in more developed nations where almost every person has access to television. It's easier to spread the good news of you and your wonderful works over the TV air-waves. Once you've got them afraid, giving up their rights and buying from the corporations that contribute to your growing wealth, you're 90% there, buddy! What's gonna be a bummer is that somewhere in the world there will be a few people who just won't buy into the BS. It's not likely any one person could succeed at ruling the entire world, there's always gonna be the pesky independent types to keep any one man from obtaining that much power. This strategy would work great if you set your sights a little lower and settled for dominion over a country? I have a sneaky suspicion it's a proven method...  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-19-2005 06:38 AM                        Rated G Useless fact -Has anyone in the history of man ever had an IQ of 0? An IQ of 0 is very hard to determine as the distribution of IQ scores is more-or-less Gaussian, that is it follows the famous "bell curve". The scores are adjusted based on average scores of a particular age group, thus IQ scores outside the range 55 to 145 are essentially meaningless because there are not enough people to make statistically sound statements. IQ is a difficult thing to measure as it isn't very clear what exactly Intelligence is: "If an IQ test is supposed to measure a person's intelligence, the question is: What is intelligence? Is it the ability to do well in school? Is it the ability to read well and spell correctly? Or are the following people intelligent? ---The physician who smokes three packets of cigarettes a day? ---The Nobel Prize winner whose marriage and personal life are in ruins? ---The corporate executive who has ingeniously worked his way to the top and also earned a heart attack for his efforts? ---The brilliant and successful music composer who handled his money so poorly that he was always running from his creditors (incidentally, his name was Mozart)? The problem is that the term intelligence has never been defined adequately and therefore nobody knows what an IQ test is supposed to measure. In spite of this the futures of thousands of children are determined by the results of this test. The unreliability of IQ tests has been proved by numerous researchers. The scores may vary by as much as 15 points from one test to another, while emotional tension, anxiety, and unfamiliarity with the testing process can greatly affect test performance. In addition, there is a biasing effect that tester attitudes, qualifications, and instructions can have on testing. In one study, for example, ninety-nine school psychologists independently scored an IQ test from identical records, and came up with IQs ranging from 63 to 117 for the same person. While we're sure there has been at least one person born during the history of man that might have scored a 0 on an IQ test, given the controversy surrounding the testing and scoring of Intelligence, a score of 0 is suspect, at least in our minds.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-19-2005 09:24 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - If an atheist has to testify in court, must s/he swear on the Bible? According to some links in the Legal Help category, it's not just atheists who who might have this issue. There are any number of Christians who believe that the Bible forbids them to swear on it or by it. Others also object to the use of the word "swear". So the Bible is now optional in court, and may not even be offered. Additionally, the witness may use an alternate oath involving the word "affirm". The effect is the same: to put the witness under the penalty of law for a lie.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-20-2005 09:29 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Does eating burnt material cause cancer? According to the links in the Cancer Facts category, smoking and barbecuing foods so that they are slightly burnt on the outside causes chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to form. These chemicals are known to help cause cancer. So in theory barbecuing or cooking over a high heat could increase the cancer risk. It’s not conclusive if burnt food causes cancer, yet at the same time burnt organic matter is known to be carcinogenic. Hydrocarbons are everywhere so the contribution to cancer by a small amount of burnt food would be very minimal.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-22-2005 02:40 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Which presidents have received the highest and lowest approval ratings? According to the US Presidents category, presidential approval polls are relatively new. The Gallup Organization started the tradition in 1938, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term. Not surprisingly, the numbers tend to spike in times of war. The record holder for highest approval rating? President George W. Bush, who topped out at 90% in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. His father is the runner-up, with an 89% rating during the first Gulf War. Harry Truman scored 87% in April, 1945, following FDR's death and during the final stages of World War II. FDR achieved 84% after Pearl Harbor. The all-time worst numbers belong to Harry Truman (23%), who also holds the record for the biggest range in approval rating. George H. W. Bush eventually sank to 29%. Carter hit 28%, and Nixon was at 24% before he resigned.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-24-2005 06:31 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why does chocolate make you thirsty? Some links in the Chocolate Facts category helped us answer your question. Chocolate contains sugar. Your body uses a different, simpler form of sugar than what is contained in chocolate. For your body to convert the sugar in chocolate into the type your body can use, it needs to complete a chain of molecules and your body uses molecules of water in the process. Thus, you are thirsty because your body uses up water to convert the complex form of sugar in chocolate into a simpler form that body can use.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-24-2005 04:28 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - If a company mails you an item you didn't order, can you keep it? Some links in the US Postal Service category helped us answer your question. Even though it's not yours, it's not likely that the company will spend the time and expense to hunt you down only to discover that you conveniently have amnesia and don't recall a package ever coming. And then they would have to prove that you signed for it and they would have to prove that you have it in your possession and that you willingly stole the item. After all of that, it's easier to write it off as a loss or file an insurance claim. Large businesses lose stuff all of the time. And if you are talking about general merchandise it's much easier for them to ship another item to the customer than to get you to ship it back to them so they can get it to it's rightful customer. Plus they have special investigation teams that seek out lost merchandise that is particularly expensive like jewelry or laptop computers. So if the item was shipped to you, the right thing to do would be to call the company that shipped it. We could probably live with it, if we kept the item if it came from someone like Microsoft or IBM. But if it was a package that was delivered from some Mom & Pop operation we would be more inclined to send it back. We might even pay for the shipping to send it back to them.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-25-2005 10:09 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Can a female dog be pregnant by more than one male at the same time? Yes - just like cats, dogs can have multiple fathers or sires within one litter. Dogs (and cats) have litters of offspring, the female produces several eggs per cycle. If she mates with more than one male, some eggs may be fertilized by one father and other by a different one. Each offspring will then share the genetic characteristics of the parents and therefore may be different looking from their littermates.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-27-2005 06:46 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - When should you drive with your parking lights instead of your headlights? NEVER!!!!! There's no count on the times we've seen some idiot driving at night with only his parking lights on because he thinks his headlights are on but he only turned on his parking lights at dusk and never turned his headlights on when it got dark. He's an invisible bullet waiting to kill someone who pulls out right in front of him while's he tooling down the street at 50. If you think you need lights on at all, then put your full headlights on so that you don't have to worry about it. The law specifies when your headlights must be on (night, rain, etc.). Better yet, if you don't have daytime running lights, use your headlights all the time.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-27-2005 02:54 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Do cold, warm and hot drinking water all hydrate the body equally well? According to the links in the Drinking Water category, it’s long been thought that cold fluids were better than warm fluids at delaying exhaustion, but research from the University of Minas Gerais in Brazil doesn’t back this up. Athletes exercised to exhaustion in three separate sessions: in the first they were given cold water, in the second warm water and in the third hot water. The amounts were the same each time. Results showed that the temperature of the water did not affect the time it took them to reach fatigue. What fluid temperature does affect, though, is how much you drink. Cold drinks tend to taste better, making you drink more, so keep drinks chilled where possible. Too cold or too hot is dangerous for anyone. Apart from that, it is the amount you drink, rather than the temperature of the water.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-28-2005 06:38 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Are there contact lenses that protect the eyes in the same way sunglasses do? While some contact lens manufacturers include some degree of UV protection, they are not substitutes for sunglasses or other UV protection for your eyes. Contacts cover only the iris (colored portion) and pupil, but not the rest of the eye. You may have heard of "performance enhancing contact lenses" made by MaxSight. They've been used by baseball players who swear they can see the ball better when they're at bat. They're made by Bausch & Lomb (in conjunction with Nike). They reduce glare and claim to reduce 95% UVA and UVB and 90% of blue light, but even Bausch & Lomb warn that they are not substitutes for sunglasses or goggles.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-28-2005 12:37 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What's so great about having a Swiss bank account? Here's what we learned from the links in the Swiss Banks category: There's a lot of information about Swiss bank accounts floating around the ether -- most of it from businesses interested in your money. The Swiss banking industry is notoriously private. People will "find out you have a Swiss account" only if you tell them. Swiss law prohibits the bank not only from revealing your balance, but from acknowledging that you're a customer or revealing when you made your last transaction. Bankers can go to jail for violating Swiss privacy laws. Banking secrecy evaporates if a Swiss judge is convinced that you have used a Swiss bank to commit a serious crime such as financial fraud, embezzling, money laundering or drug dealing. It has to be a major crime under Swiss law, even if it was committed elsewhere. On the other hand, it's not a major crime in Switzerland to hide money from an ex-spouse or the taxman, so an American divorce attorney and the IRS can't pry information from a Swiss bank. Some Swiss bank account "expediters" actually promote the tax evasion element. This is pretty remarkable since it's so blatantly against the law. Historically, Swiss bank accounts have also attracted money from dubious origins -- self-employed Colombian plumbers, say, or recently deposed third-world despots. Switzerland isn't the only place that touts banking secrecy. Luxembourg and Liechtenstein prize secrecy, and so do banks based in the Cook Islands (a Polynesian tax haven roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand) and in the Caribbean. The Bahamas and Cayman Islands are popular offshore banking destinations for Americans.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-28-2005 01:13 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Is it really dangerous to put metal in the microwave? Some links from the Electromagnetic Field category helped us answer your question. Who among us hasn't had the impulse to stick a can of SpaghettiOs in the microwave and see if the whole thing will, maybe like, you know...blow up? Or at least black out every household in the neighborhood? Well, while the occasional spoon left in your microwaving coffee cup won't necessarily win you a Darwin Award, this little rogue science experiment is still not without consequence. The problem has to do with a phenomenon called "arcing." Without getting all Mr. Science on you, it seems microwaves electrically charge the air between a metallic object and the metal contained in the oven walls. This ionized air produces an electric current like a small bolt of lightning that can spark. Sparking in the microwave is more likely when metal with sharp edges, such as forks or even crinkled aluminum foil, is left inside. And the arcing effect can actually melt or burn thin metal layers like those found in mugs with metal trim. Thus, the FDA recommends that you don't use metal and aluminum foil in a microwave, as they can damage the oven and also cause your food to cook unevenly.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-28-2005 03:00 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Does the West Coast ever have hurricanes? If not, why not? Hurricanes do form in the Northeast Pacific basin, but tropical hurricanes almost never hit the West Coast. Some links in the Hurricanes category explain why. In the Northern Hemisphere, tropical hurricanes almost always travel westwards along the tradewinds. These westerly tradewinds are created by the earth's easterly rotation. The second reason has to do with ocean surface temperature. Hurricanes need warm water to form. Off the East Coast, the Gulf Stream warms waters to temperatures sometimes above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Along the Pacific Coast, the water is colder -- no higher than the lower 70s, even in summer. This lower water temperature also acts as a retardant to any incoming hurricanes. So, California is protected by its cold water. You'd have to travel to the central Mexican coast to find water warm enough to sustain hurricanes.  |  IP: Logged

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