The Wedges Game

http://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/

Fact of the Day: Rainy Day Fund

Percentage of Americans who said their household couldn't come up with $2,000 in 30 days without selling some possessions: 47%.

-Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

Cost of Advertising Per Person

"Vitrue, a social-marketing software firm that works with Fortune 1000 brands concluded in a study last year that each person who 'likes' a brand is worth $3.60 - essentially the price of reaching that person through advertisements."


Rockville News Blog Abandons Its Web Site, Goes All Facebook All The Time
by Ian Shapira
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/rockville-news-blog-abandons-its-web-site-goes-all-facebook-all-the-time/2011/05/10/AG1X47iH_story.html

Who Gets Unspent Campaign Funds?

"Money is spent on bills and debts first.  If there is extra money, federal candidates must adhere to the strict FEC rules.  Excess public matching funds are returned to the US Treasury.  With private money, candidates have a few options, including refunding it, saving it for the next campaign, donating it to their poltical party or to a charity, or giving it to state or local candidates."

Who Gets Unspent Campaign Funds?
Parade.com/intel

Recalling an Email

This article is a bit old, but...

The Problem: You sent an email that you immediately regret and would like to retrieve the message.

The Solution: Hit the recall button.  The recall feature in Microsoft Outlook allows the sender to delte the message from the recipient's mailbox before it is read by opening the sent message and choosing "Recall this message" from the Actions menu.  But hurry.  You can't recall a message if it is moved to a different folder once it reaches teh recipient's inbox.  This happens when recipients set up their inbox to automatically move any messages from you into a separate folder.  The feature also works only if the recipient is also using a Microsoft Exchange Server account, meaning it won't work on Web-based email like Google's Gmail or Yahoo Mail.

Trying to Recall an Email
by Loretta Chao
WSJ; 1/10/06

Toilet Professor

On toilets and their different parts...

A Lesson From The Toilet Professor
by Tim Carter
http://www.silive.com/homegarden/homeimprovement/index.ssf/2009/11/heres_some_advice_that_will_le.html

What is the Average Salary of a Lobbyist?

According to Salary.com, the median salary for a typical lobbyist is $98,516.

http://www1.salary.com/Lobbyist-salary.html

29 Cool Beach Shacks

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Worries
Conde Nast Traveler (July 2011)
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/503769

Rent an Expert

"A startt-up called Expert Insight is enabling the more famous or distinguished among us to sell their expertise by the hour, from the comfort of their homes, while dressed in their pajamas.  Prices vary significantly by level of expertise, by field, and by fame."

Rent an Expert
by Annie Lowrey
http://www.slate.com/id/2296822/

Cooling The Brain for Better Sleep

"Researchers report that cooling the brain may help some problem sleepers drift off faster and sleep longer.  In a study involving 12 insomniacs and 12 healthy sleepers, when the troubled sleepers wore specially designed caps that circulated water at cool temperatures, they fell asleep about as quickly as the normal sleepers did.  the chillier the water, the better those with insomnia slept.  The results support earlier findings that restless sleepers tend to show higher than nomral brain activity in the frontal cortex while they're trying to doze off.  The heightened activity reaises teh brain's temperature just as the body starts to cool off at the end of the day to promote sleep."

Cool Your Head to Fall Asleep
http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/17/tip-for-insomniacs-cool-your-head-to-fall-asleep/

Lawyer Up

"But getting that lawyer is no easy thing, said Chris Miles, who co-founded a company, LawyerUp, to get lawyers on the case within 15 minutes.  He co-founded the company in February, and started full operations this month in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, having built a roster of criminal lawyers who do not mind getting late-night calls."

Delivering a Lawyer With 15 Minutes (Soda Extra)
by John Schwartz
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/us/17lawyer.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26

On Inheritance

"It is difficult enough to entrust an elderly parent's care to someone you hire.  But what do you do when that worker secretly marries their charge - and claims a chunk of your inheritance?  Although no one tracks the numbers of such marriages, lawyers who handle estate-related litigation say they are seeing increasing numbers of 'predatory unions,' as life spans increase and dementia becomes more common."

Unholy Matrimony: How to Fight Back
by Kelly Greene
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906004576371470376031108.html

10 Lamest Things You Can Order in a Restaurant

http://www.zagat.com/buzz/the-10-lamest-things-you-can-order-in-a-restaurant?zagatbuzzid=june11week3&utm_source=buzz&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=buzz20110615

It Pays for a Man to be Fat and a Women to be Skinny?

According to this study, skinny women get paid more and so do fat men...
http://www.timothy-judge.com/Judge%20and%20Cable%20%28JAP%202010%29.pdf

What are the Most Popular Machines at the Gym

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/05/21/fashion/gym.1.graphic.html

How do Dust Bunnies Form?

Dust bunnies form from the surprisingly large supply of stuff in the air, including fibers from clothing fabrics and carpeting; hari; animal fur and dander; and especially human skin cells and dust mites that feed on them...Fibers have an electric charge that causes things to stick to them, so dust bunnies are more common in carpeted houses, which have a larger supply of fibers.

Dust Bunnies
by C. Claiborne Ray
http://tv.nytimes.com/learning/students/scienceqa/archive/20060321.html

Do Other Animals Alter Food?

Q: Do any animals (besides humans) season or otherwise alter their food to make it taste better?

A: It is a general rule in the animal kingdom that "hunger is the best sauce," and seasonign food is simply not an issue for a voracious animal.  Many species are presumed to have evolved along with their food supplies, and there is no easy way to take a survey of animals' taste satisfaction.  They usually eat what they like and like what they eat, without salt and pepper.  Some animals do show strong food preferences involving things like texture, and in one isolated but intriguing case, a Japanese macaque that was fed sweet potatoes began washing the food in salt water and some of the other monkey emulated her.  A few animals alter their food beyond simply cracking nuts or opening shellfish to obtain access to nutrients.  Honeybees, which significantly change the nectar they collect and onvert it to honey, are the best known.  But this complicated process is believed to be for digestive and storage reasons, not for palatability..."

Sauce for the Goose
by C. Claiborne Ray
http://tv.nytimes.com/learning/students/scienceqa/archive/20060314.html

Fact of the Day: Births & Deaths

Q: About how many people are born and die in a single day?

A: Each day on Earth, about 350,000 people are born and 150,000 die.

-Parade Magazine

Do Humans Have White or Dark Meat?

"Dark meat is dark because it contains high amounts of iron-rich moglobin, which helps store oxygen in muscle.  White meat has far less myoglobin.  That's why chickens can strut around all day without fatiguing but can only fly in short bursts before their muscles tire due to oxygen deprivation.  The same is true in humans, but instead of white and dark meat, exercise freaks say their muscles are fast-twitch and slow-twitch.  Sprinters have more fast-twitch muscle fibers (white meat), while marathoners have more slow-twitch fibers (dark meat).  Since sprinters still need to talk around the mall without collapsing in exhaustion, though, the difference in our dark meat/white meat ratio isn't as pronounced as it is in a bucket of KFC - but that doesn't mean it ain't finger-lickin' good!"

-Maxim?

How Much Do Dead People Make?

A whole lot, according to Forbes.  Last year, look at what these folks made:

Elvis Presley: $45 million
Charles Schulz: $35 million
John Lennon: $22 million
Andy Warhol: $16 million
Dr. Seuss: $10 million
Marlon Brando: $9 million
Marilyn Monroe: $8 million
J.R.R. Tolkien: $8 million

Question of the Year: Probability

Four identical sealed envelopes are on a table.  One of them contains a $100 bill.  You select an enveloped at random and hold it in your hand without opening it.  Two of the three remaining envelopes are then removed and set aside, unopened.  You are told that they are empty.  You are given the choice of keeping the envelope you chose or exchanging it for the one on the table.  What should you do? A) Keep your envelope.  B) Switch it.  C) It doesn't matter.

-From Ask Marilyn

Answer is here: http://www.parade.com/askmarilyn/2010/09/Sundays-Column-09-19-10.html

Fact of the Day: Induced Motion

Q: Say you're sitting on a train, waiting to leave the station, and the train begins to move.  Then you feel something is wrong, and you realize that your train is not moving at all.  Instead, the train on a neighboring track is moving.  Does a term exist for this feeling?

A: Yes: The feeling is known as "induced motion."  Another misleading feeling is called "motion after-effects."  It occurs when you've been watching a moving scene - one studied example is a waterfall - then look away at a stationary scene or object.  For a few moments, the object appears to be moving in the opposite direction.  Trains cause this feeling too.

-Ask Marilyn

Fact of the Day: Prune Fingers

"Why do we wind up with prune fingers at the pool?  It is because of increased absorption.  So your fingertips may look dried out like a prune in the sun, but they actually get creased because they are absorbing a lot of water.  They do this because the skin on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet is thicker and tougher than the skin elsewhere on the body.  Those skin cells also contain more protein, called keratin, than skin cells elsewhere."

Wrinkled When Wet
by Margaret Webb Pressler
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/31/AR2006073100905.html

Question of the Day: Love

Q: I say that one can love only living creatures, such as people and animals, or natural creations, such as mountains and oceans.  My boyfriend says one also can love objects such as cars and houses.  What do you think?

A: I think one can love only sentient creatures, which are conscious.  My benchmark: Would you want to hug this "love object" if you could?  For example, I think one could want to hug a bear, in theory.  Or a firefly or a butterfly, in a way.  But I can't imagine anyone wanting to hug a tulip, a painting or a violin.

-Ask Marilyn by Marilyn vos Savant

Which Sport Has The Most Popular Athletes?

"Americans apparently like their athletes big and dirty.  Pro football players as a group edged out their counterparts in baseball and basketball in a national survey to find out which sport has the most popular pros."

-WPpost

On Champagne

Q: What does "brut" means?

A: "Brut" means "dry" and refers to a sparkling wine's sweetness level.  The levels, in order from driest to sweetest, are: extra brut, brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec, and doux.  As non-vintage brut accounts for about nine of every 10 bottles of champagne sold, it's no wonder you're so often seeing it labeled that way.

-WPost

Do Good Restaurant Reviews Cause Price Hikes?

"Of course, some restaurants hike their prices after a rave. But others hike their prices after a bad review, or after no review at all. It turns out there's very little correlation at all between good reviews and price hikes."

Do Good Reviews Cause Restaurant Price Hikes?
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/06/gastronomics_whats_the_value_o.html

Women Don't Like Men Who Smile Too Much?

http://ubc-emotionlab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/Happy-Guys...in-pres-Emotion.pdf

How Fish Get Their Unique Flavor

How Fish Get Their Unique Flavor
by Beth Kracklauer
http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/Flavor-Factors?cmpid=enews060811

College Class of the Day: Leadership Through Shakespeare

"Columbia Business School's Executive Eduction program is taking a dramatic turn, as the school introduces a course on leadership through Shakespeare.  The course, "Realizing Leadership Potential: Applying Leadership Lessons from Shakespeare's Greatest Characters," will run the last weekend of July, coinciding with a New York visit from England's Royal Shakespeare Company.  the program costs $5,550, including materials and some meals."

-WSJ

How Happy Are Librarians With Their Job

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/ljinprintcurrentissue/890617-403/lj_2011_job_satisfaction_survey.html.csp

Fact of the Day: Matzo

Manischewitz estimates its matzo shelf life is about 2.5 years.  But stale matzo can be re-crisped in a 250-degree overn for about five minutes.

Fact of the Day: Marriage and Wealth

The percent gain in wealth a married couple accumulates by staying together, according to a study: 93%
Accounting for a 77% drain on finance? Divorce.

Fact of the Day: Price of a 30-second Super Bowl spot

In 2010, they were selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million.  In 1996, they were going for an average of $1.37 million.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/11/sportsline/main6082591.shtml

Shocking Fact of the Day: Americans' Health

The percent of Americans who meet all four areas of health advice to maintain a healthy weight, excercise regularly, eat at least five fruits and vegetables daily, and avoide smoking, according to a study in the Arvhives of Internal Medicine: 3%

Fact of the Day: Speed of Raindrops

The top speed at which a raindrop falls, in miles per hour: 22

Fact of the Day: Estimat of Those Killed in Communist Regimes

Estimates by Goran Lindblad

China: 65 million
Soviet Union: 20 million
North Korea: 2 million
Cambodia: 2 million
Africa: 1.7 million
Afghanistan: 1.5 million
Vietnam: 1 million
Eastern Europe: 1 million
Latin America: 150,000

http://assembly.coe.int/documents/workingdocs/doc05/edoc10765.htm

Fact of the Day: Halloween Candy

Percentage of adults who admit to stealing candy from their kids' Halloween bags: 90%

(I wonder what % of kids suspect or know that their parents are stealing)

Fact of the Day: Winning the Lottery

Percentage of Americans who say they would continue working at their current job even if they won $10 million in a lottery: 22% (Gallup Poll Social Series on Work and Education, August, 2005)

Percentage of small-business owners who would do so: 47% (Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, August, 2005)

Fact of the Day: Circulating Dollars

Q: What percentage of the trillions of dollars in our country exists in the form of actual currency?

A: Less than 10%.  The rest is digital or notational 0 it's written down somewhere.  And about half of those trillions of digital dollars bounces around between lcoatiosn every business day.

-Marilyn vos Savant

Q: Are heart attacks more common on Mondays?

A: They occur at their lowest rates on weekends, jump significantly on Mondays, then drop again on Tuesdays.

The Claim: Heart Attacks are More Common on Mondays
by Anahad O'Connor
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/health/14real.html

Acceptance of Evolution

"The US has a smaller proportion of people who accept evolution than any other country except Turkey, according to a 34-nation survey by researcher Jon D. Miller of Michigan State University.  Iceland had the highest proportion accepting evolution."

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/706-public-acceptance-of-evolution

On Telemarketers

"There are 337,662 telemarketers who work at about 4,800 establishments in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Industry wages average $527 per week and about $25,000 per year, according to the bureau."

Calling Back
by Vickie Elmer

Wasting Time at Work

"Americans while away 2.09 hours in every eight-hour shift on nonwork activities - and that doesn't count lunch or snack breaks - according to research by America Online and Salary.com.  This is twice as much time as human resources managers queried by Salary.com expected and represents an estimated $759 billion a year in wasted salaries."

Hey, You! Back to Work
by Vickie Elmer
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1369150.html

Steering a Hurricane

Q: If the normal trajectory of weather in the continental US is from west to east, why is the normal trajectory of a hurraince from south to north?

A: A hurricane can go in almost any direction, but its path is subject to belts of wind at different heights and latitudes and to its own itnernal winds...In the Northern Hemisphere, the direction of a hurricane is the result of a combination of the Coriolis force and steering winds five to seven miles up...

Steering a Hurricane
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E6DA1031F93AA2575AC0A9609C8B63

Poorest Country in the World

Q: What is the poorest country in the world?

A: Gross national income - the GDP plus money received from other countries minus money paid to other countries - is now commonly used.  The sad sacks who tie for lowest GNI - Iraq, Somalia, and Libya - all have a GNI of...$0.  But perhaps the best meausrement is the human development index released by the United Nations.  'It takes into account not only economic factors but also social factors such as education, health, and access to water,' explains Lisa Cook, an economist at Michigan State University.  According to the 2005 HDI...the lucky winner was Niger."

-From Maxim Magazine (date unkown; but old)