Today I learned...

Becky

Becky

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Thought we could all learn something from each other here! If you stumble across an interesting fact, share it here :)

I'll kick things off...



Today I learned of Cunningham's Law, which states that the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer.

:lol::lol::lol:

Never heard of this before, but I guess it makes a good point! Given that I share a surname with the person who this law is named after (Ward Cunningham if you're interested), it tickled me. Maybe I should start putting this into practice :D
 
Today I learned that children could once be mailed by Parcel Post:
On February 19, 1914, May Pierstorff, just short of her 6th birthday, was “mailed” from her parents’ home in Grangeville, Idaho to her grandparents’ house about 73 miles away for just 53-cents worth of stamps. May’s parents were taking advantage of parcel post service, which began just the year before. In the early years of this service, customers and postal officials were still getting used to how the service could be used....

The first child “mailed” in the U.S. was an unnamed boy in Batavia, Ohio in mid January 1913. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Beauge of Glen Este, Ohio was carried by Rural Free Delivery carrier Vernon Little to its grandmother, Mrs. Louis Beague about a mile away. The boy’s parents paid 15-cents for the stamps and even insured their son for $50.
Click to expand...
Source: Postalmuseumblog.si.edu
:eek:
 
Today I learned that the invention of the motor car saved London and new York from being buried in horse poop.
In 1894 it was estimated that, because of the proliferation of horse drawn vehicles, within 50 years, London would be 9 feet deep in manure and dead horses.

Phew, that's a relief. :D
 
Today I learned if when you are working on a building site and you need to clean the tea stains from your tea mug and haven't got fairy liquid you can use soft sand as an alternative :thumb:
 
Urmas said:
Today I learned what washing up liquid (Fairy Clean and Fresh Lemon) tastes like.
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You Finns have weird tastes... first salty liquorice, now fairy liquid... :lol:

EvanDavis said:
Today I learned if when you are working on a building site and you need to clean the tea stains from your tea mug and haven't got fairy liquid you can use soft sand as an alternative :thumb:
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Nice! Well I suppose it is a good abrasive... hope you washed it out before making your tea ;)
 
And today I learned that the three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

Seems to be some sort of imbalance there. ;)
 
Today I learned that NASA thinks it can send humans to orbit Mars by 2033 at the earliest. SpaceX, however, thinks it can put humans on the surface of Mars as early as 2024 though.

The next couple of decades will certainly be very interesting in terms of space exploration! :nod:

https://www.inverse.com/article/18776-nasa-thinks-it-can-send-humans-to-martian-orbit-by-2033
https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/06/02/elon-musk-hopes-spacex-will-send-humans-to-mars-in-2024/

nivrip said:
And today I learned that the three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

Seems to be some sort of imbalance there. ;)
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That's shocking! :eek: I don't know what's worse - that the top three families have so much, or that the bottom 48 countries have so little :(
 
Today I learned... that it pays (sometimes literally) to read the EULA when downloading software!

A security software publisher included a clause which promised that "financial compensation" would be awarded to anyone who read it, if they contacted the company at an email address listed in the EULA.

Four months and more than 3,000 downloads later... one person finally contacted them. That observant person was rewarded with a cheque for $1,000.
 
Taffycat said:
Four months and more than 3,000 downloads later... one person finally contacted them. That observant person was rewarded with a cheque for $1,000.
Click to expand...

I'm glad to read that they indeed went ahead and made the payment! I don't know if it's enough of a motivation for me to read through every set of terms and conditions though...
 
Taffycat said:
Today I learned... that it pays (sometimes literally) to read the EULA when downloading software!

A security software publisher included a clause which promised that "financial compensation" would be awarded to anyone who read it, if they contacted the company at an email address listed in the EULA.

Four months and more than 3,000 downloads later... one person finally contacted them. That observant person was rewarded with a cheque for $1,000.
Click to expand...


This is very like the time when GameStation claimed the souls of all the people who didn't read their T&Cs. :D

HERE

:D
 
nivrip said:
This is very like the time when GameStation claimed the souls of all the people who didn't read their T&Cs. :D

HERE

:D
Click to expand...

Crikey! :eek:

While all shoppers during the test were given a simple tick box option to opt out, very few did this, which would have also rewarded them with a £5 voucher,according to news:lite. Due to the number of people who ticked the box, GameStation claims believes as many as 88 percent of people do not read the terms and conditions of a Web site before they make a purchase.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised they think 12% of people read the full terms! Surely it would be closer to 1-2%?!
 
:)

xkcd_eula.jpg



:user:
 
Today I learned that there are more life forms living on your skin than there are people on the planet. :eek:

Time for a shower. :D
 

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