Computer Facts

The first personal computer was the Berkeley Enterprises “Simon” which sold for $300 in 1950.

Seagate Technology (US:STX) was originally named Shugart Technology.

The precision quartz clock in a computer cannot keep accurate time.

Windows was originally named Interface Manager.

IBM (US:IBM), which stands for International Business Machines, was an exaggerated name derived from NCR, National Cash Register.

Floppy disks in the late 1970s were 8 inches in diameter.

The VIC-20 computer from Commodore sold for $299 in 1980 with 5K of RAM.

The world’s first one gigabyte disk drive was announced in 1980. It weighed 550 pounds and had a price tag of $40,000.

IP means both Internet Protocol and Intellectual Property.

The ticker symbol for Sun Microsystems was changed from SUNW to JAVA and the company has been struggling ever since.

SanDisk (US:SNDK) used to be called SunDisk.

Apple (US:AAPL) popularized the laser printer.

Adobe Photoshop (US:ADBE) was originally called Display, then ImagePro. It was not developed by Adobe, but licensed from a college student named Thomas Knoll in 1988.

Intel’s (US:INTC) first microprocessor was the 4004. It was designed for a calculator, nobody imagined where it would lead.

SCO, the company that sold a version of Unix, used to be called the Santa Cruz Operation.

Peter Norton of the fabled Norton anti-virus program once said that there was no such thing as a computer virus and considered the whole idea some sort of hoax.

“Modem” means modulator/demodulator. This referred to the modulation and demodulation of an analog signal to make it digital. By this definition the device called a cable modem is a misnomer. It should be called a network adapter.

Dell Inc. (US:DELL) was originally called PCs Limited.

The Apple 1 was the first computer developed by Apple and was nothing more than a bag of parts. The Apple II was the first finished product sold by the company.

Lenovo (HK:992) means “new legend” — “Le” for legend and “novo” for new.

In the 1950s computers were commonly referred to as “electronic brains.”

Porcupine

The porcupine is the prickliest of rodents, though its Latin name means “quill pig.” There are about two dozen porcupine species, and all boast a coat of needle-like quills to give predators a sharp reminder that this animal is no easy meal.

Some quills, like those of Africa’s crested porcupine, are nearly a foot (30 centimeters) long.

Porcupines have soft hair, but on their back, sides, and tail it is usually mixed with sharp quills. These quills typically lie flat until a porcupine is threatened, then leap to attention as a persuasive deterrent.

Porcupines cannot shoot them at predators as once thought, but the quills do detach easily when touched.

Many animals come away from a porcupine encounter with quills protruding from their own snouts or bodies. Quills have sharp tips and overlapping scales or barbs that make them difficult to remove once they are stuck in another animal’s skin. Porcupines grow new quills to replace the ones they lose.

The porcupines found in North and South America are good climbers and spend much of their time in trees. Some even have prehensile (gripping) tails to aid in climbing.

The North American porcupine is the only species that lives in the U.S. and Canada, and is the largest of all porcupines. A single animal may have 30,000 or more quills.

North American porcupines use their large front teeth to satisfy a healthy appetite for wood. They eat natural bark and stems, and have been known to invade campgrounds and chew on canoe paddles.

North American porcupines also eat fruit, leaves, and springtime buds.

Other porcupine species live in Africa, Europe, and Asia. These animals usually live on the ground and can inhabit deserts, grasslands, and forests.

Female porcupines have between one and four young, depending on the species. Babies have soft quills at birth, which harden within a few days. Most young porcupines are ready to live on their own at about two months of age.

Avocado

Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable.
There are more than 500 avocado varieties.
Avocados are native to Central and South America, where they have been cultivated for over 10,000 years.
Another name for the avocado is the “alligator pear,” so-called because of its alligator skin texture and pear shape.
Spanish explorers could not pronounce ahuacatl, so they called the avocado aguacate. This is the origin of the word guacamole.
The origin of guacamole is the Aztec avocado sauce called ahuaca-hulli.
The Hass is the most common avocado in the United States and is the only avocado grown year round.
The average avocado contains 300 calories and 30 grams of healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat.
Avocados have the highest protein content of any fruit.
Avocados contain more potassium than bananas.
One avocado contains 81 mcg of lutein, an important nutrient for healthy eyes.
Once an avocado is picked, it takes between 7 and 10 days to ripen. Keeping it in the refrigerator will slow down the ripening process, while putting it in a paper bag with a ripe apple will speed up the process.

Bicycle Facts

In 1817, Karl von Drais, a German baron, invented a horseless carriage that would help him get around faster. The two-wheeled, pedal-less device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, The machine became known as the “draisine,” and led to the creation of the modern-day bicycle.

The term “bicycle” was not introduced until the 1860s, when it was coined in France to describe a new kind of two-wheeler with a mechanical drive.

Orville and Wilbur Wright, the brothers who built the first flying airplane, operated a small bike repair shop in Dayton, Ohio. They used their workshop to build the 1903 Wright Flyer.

Fred A. Birchmore, 25, circled the globe by bicycle in 1935. The entire trip, through Europe, Asia, and the United States, covered forty thousand miles. He pedaled about 25,000 miles. The rest was traveled by boat. He wore out seven sets of tires.

There are over a half billion bicycles in China. Bikes were first brought to China in the late 1800s.

About 100 million bicycles are manufactured worldwide each year.

Over the past 30 years, bicycle delivery services have developed into an important industry, especially in cities, where the couriers have earned a reputation for their high speed and traffic-weaving skills.

Americans use their bicycles for less than one percent of all urban trips. Europeans bike in cities a lot more often—in Italy 5 percent of all trips are on bicycle, 30 percent in the Netherlands, and seven out of eight Dutch people over age 15 have a bike.

The Tour de France is one of the most famous bicycle races in the world. Established in 1903, it is considered to be the biggest test of endurance out of all sports. Lance Armstrong, an American cyclist, is the only rider to have won seven titles (1999–2005) after surviving cancer.

Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX), an extreme style of bicycle track racing, became a sport in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Maris Strombergs, of Latvia, received the gold medal for Men’s BMX, and Anne-Caroline Chausson, from France, took home the gold in the first Women’s BMX Olympic event.

Lingam

The linga or lingam (Sanskrit for “symbol”) is the symbol of the god Shiva and the form in which he is most commonly worshipped. The phallic symbol is the main object of worship in Shaivite temples and homes throughout India and the world.

The linga is a simple stylized phallus that nearly always rests on pedestal of a stylized yoni, or female sex organ. Together, the linga and yoni represent the power of creative energy and fertility.

History of the Shiva Linga

Scholars believe that the linga was revered by some non-Aryan peoples of India since antiquity, and short, cylindrical pillars with rounded tops have been found in Harappan remains.

The Vedic Aryans appeared to have disapproved of linga worship, but literary and artistic evidence shows that it was firmly established by the 1st–2nd century AD.

The linga’s form began to be conventualized during the Gupta period, so that in later periods its original phallic realism was to a considerable degree lost.   Types of Lingas   Lingas range from temporary versions made of sandalwood paste or river clay for a particular rite to more elaborate ones of wood, precious gems, metal, or stone. There are precise rules of proportion to be followed for the height, width, and curvature of the top.

Variations include the mukhalinga, with one to five faces of Shiva carved on its sides and top, and the lingodbhavamurti, a South Indian form that shows Siva emerging out of a fiery linga to demonstrate his superiority over Vishnu and Brahma.

Some lingas are topped with a cobra, symbolizing the kundalini chakra located at the base of the spine (see Kundalini Yoga).

The most revered lingas are the svayambhuva (“self-originated”) lingas, which were made directly from light without human assistance. Nearly 70 are worshipped throughout India and are places of pilgrimage.

Rituals of the Shiva Linga   In the primary religious ritual of devotees of Shiva, the linga is honored with offerings of flowers, milk, pure water, fruit, leaves and rice.

BEER

Beer is the world’s most widely consumed alcoholic beverage; it is the third-most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is thought by some to be the oldest fermented beverage.

Beer is produced by the saccharification of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar. The starch and saccharification enzymes are often derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat.

Unmalted maize and rice are widely used adjuncts to lighten the flavor because of their lower cost. The preparation of beer is called brewing.

Most beer is flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, though other flavourings such as herbs or fruit may occasionally be included.

Some of humanity’s earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating beer and beer parlours, and “The Hymn to Ninkasi”, a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, served as both a prayer and as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people.

Today, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.

The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (abv) although it may sometimes vary between 0.5% (de-alcoholized) and 15% (malt liquors).

Beer forms part of the culture of beer-drinking nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as a rich pub culture involving activities like pub crawling and pub games such as bar billiards.

SAVE BIRDS