11/14/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 46/ Day: 318   

Today: L 27°…H 61°… Ave. humidity: 41%

Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  11mph  

Average Low: 22° Record Low:  -5° (1985)

Average High: 51° Record High:  70 (1967)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

"Moby Dick," by Herman Melville, published…1851

"National Turn in Your Draft Card Day" features draft card burning…1968

1st regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express…1952

1st streetcar (horse-drawn) in NYC; fare 12 cents rode on 4th Avenue between Prince 

     and 14th Sts…1832

1st US professional librarian, Louis Timothee, hired in Phila…1732

Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light…1908

Apollo 12 (Conrad/Gordon/Bean) launched for 2nd manned Moon landing…1969

Disney's "Lion King" sets Broadway record of $2,700,000 daily sale…1997

Doubleday Publishing sells NY Mets to Nelson Doubleday & Fred Wilpon…1986

FDR proclaims Philippine Islands a free commonwealth…1935

Maya King K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I (Ruler 1) ascends to the throne in Piedras Negras, Mexico…603

OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), forms…1960

Philippines hit by typhoon, 110 die…1990

Power plant at Niagara Falls begins operation….1896

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Nice day. Had a great lunch with my friend Martha and Kathleen. Birthdays are always a good time for old friends to get together. She has remained busy into her 70’s by playing the bagpipes and selling books on Amazon. Keeps her much busier than I would want to be, but she loves doing all of it and glad she does. 

Amazing to watch the storm victims in the Philippines. With all the destruction and the very slow reaction for local and national government, many are still hopeful. So amazing to watch the government officials use their bureaucratic language to explain why help is so slow in coming. Such a sad tragedy only being made worse by lack of help.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

One by one we fall from heaven, Down into the depths of past And our world is ever upturned So that yet some time we'll last.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• MASH Bloopers

• FOLLOW THE SUN – 1962

• 20 Mule Team Borax

• Claude Monet

Very Strange Laws…Maine

• Shotguns are required to be taken to church in the event of a Native American attack.
• You may not step out of a plane in flight.
• After January 14th you will be charged a fine for having your Christmas decorations still up.
• Augusta--To stroll down the street playing a violin is against the law.
• Biddeford--It is illegal to gamble at the airport. No person may roller skate on a sidewalk.
• Ellsworth--If any part of the sign ordinances of the city are more stringent than federal laws, even though they may be in conflict with them, they will prevail.
• Freeport--Mercury thermometers may not be sold in the city. /It is illegal to expectorate from any second-story window.
• South Berwick--It is illegal to park in front of Dunkin Donuts.
• Waterboro--Dog leashes may not be over eight feet in length.
• Wells--Deer may not be fed. /Advertisements may not be placed in cemeteries.

OK Then…

 

Harper’s Index 

Chance that a US firearms dealer depends on trafficking to Mexico for its economic existence: 1 in 2

Unusual Fact of the Day

O'Hare Airport is named after Al Capone's lawyer’s son, Lt. Cmdr. Butch O'Hare.

Joke-of-the-day

"Frank, if you have 20 dollars and Bill takes away 14. What would you have?” said the teacher.

"A fight!” answers Frank.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

EDITING AN ARTICLE

When editing an article, you rarely go wrong crossing out the first page and a half.

Yeah, It Really Happened

EVANSTON, Ill. - A new algorithm can help physical activity tracking apps on smartphones provide accurate data no matter where the phones are carried, U.S. researchers say. The apps, which can be a tool for doctors who want to collect data and create treatment or intervention plans, are generally carried in a pocket, on a belt or in a purse or bag throughout the day by patients who are not aware that where they carry their phone can impact how well the tracker works, they said. Now a new algorithm developed at Northwestern University -- designed with fashion and comfort in mind -- can be used with a physical activity app to predict the location of a phone throughout the day with near perfect accuracy, a university release reported. "While it remains true that smartphone activity trackers are the most accurate when the phone is placed in the pocket or on a belt, with this algorithm we can provide an estimate of error associated with other locations where the phone is carried," lead study investigator Konrad Kording said. It is unrealistic to expect all patients with activity tracker apps to always carry their phone in their pocket or on a belt, the researchers said; in everyday life people carry their phones in different ways. "Most women carry their phones in a purse," Stephen Antos, first author of the study, said. "Some people carry theirs on their belt or in their hand. We may change where we carry our phone throughout the day as well. We wanted to solve this problem and find a way to make these trackers as accurate as possible no matter where you carry your phone." The researchers developed a computer algorithm to predict where a phone is being carried and to detect second-by-second activity such as sitting, standing and walking. "I believe we will have apps running on smartphones that will know exactly what we're doing activity-wise and will warn us of diseases before we even know that we have those diseases," Kording said. "In the future, phones will have a major role in motivating people towards behavior that is good for their health."  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• How do you know when you're playing with an Italian deck of cards? There are no queens.

• The ancient Greeks played cards. In those days aces were known as "dogs."

• The spots on dice and dominoes are called pips.

• The game Simon Says was originally called Do This, Do That.

• In a standard deck of cards, the king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

• Most frequently landed-on squares in Monopoly: Illinois Ave., GO, B&O Railroad.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

10-16:   Geography Awareness Week / National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week
11-15:  National Young Reader's Week

11-17: National Global Entrepreneurship Week /  World Kindness Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        International Girls Day

·        Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day

·        National American Teddy Bear Day

·        National Pickle Day

·        Spirit of NSA (National Speakers Association) Day

·        World Diabetes Day World Orphans Day

~~~~~

·        India: Children's Day

Today’s Events through History  

Charles J Guiteau went on trial for assassination of President Garfield…1881

During WW II, German planes destroy most of Coventry, England…1940

King Charles VI of France crowned at age 12…1380

President Theodore Roosevelt visits Panama…1906

Protests against austerity measures occur across in Spain, Portugal, and Greece…2012

Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" reaches #1…1960

USC Trojans (then Methodists) play their 1st football game…1888

Yale University announces it is going co-educational…1968

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

P J [Patrick Jake] O'Rourke, writer (Easy Money) is 66

Yanni, new age musician (Live at the Acropolis, Sand Dance) is 59

Condoleezza Rice, political scientist and diplomat is 59

Josh Duhamel, actor (Las Vegas) is 41

Remembered for being born today

Robert Fulton, inventor and engineer (1st commercial steamboat) [1765-1815]

Charles Lyell, Scotland, geologist (Principles of Geology) [1797-1875]

Claude Monet, Paris, impressionist (Water Lilies) [1840-1926]

Joseph McCarthy, US Senator and anti-communist lunatic [1908-1957]

Dick Powell, actor (Cry Danger, Dick Powell Theater) [1904-1963]

Jawaharlal Nehru, 1st Indian PM [1889-1964]

Veronica Lake, [Constance Ockleman], actress (I Married a Witch) [1922-1973]

Mamie G Doud Eisenhower, 1st lady [1896-1979]

Adam Walsh, American murder victim [1974-1981]

Aaron Copland, composer (Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring) [1900-1990]

Ray Sharkey, Brooklyn, actor (Wise Guys, Wired, Caged Fear) [1952-1993]

McLean Stevenson, actor (M*A*S*H, Hello Larry) [1927-1996]

Brian Keith, actor (Bill-Family Affair, Loneliest Runner) [1921-1997]

Rosemary DeCamp, Prescott Az, actress (Love That Bob, That Girl) [1910-2001]

Sherwood Schwartz, TV creator (Brady Bunch, Gilligan Is) [1916-2011]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Robert Trout, American journalist…2000…@91

Booker T. Washington, educator/organizier…hypertension…1915…@59  

T'ai tsu, emperor of China/founder of Sung-dynasty…976…@49

  

Brain Teasers

Sand in an hourglass

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

§    And That Is All for Now  §