September 13, 2010
An announcer’s test is a test sometimes given to those wanting to be a radio or television announcer. The tests usually involve retention, memory, repetition, enunciation, diction, and using every letter in the alphabet a variety of times. One of the more well known announcer’s tests originated at Radio Central New York in the early 1940s as a cold reading test given to prospective radio talent to demonstrate their speaking ability.
There are many variants, but most begin thusly: One hen. One hen, two ducks. One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese. One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limerick oysters… and so on.
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September 13, 2010
Ullage [uhl-ij] refers to the unfilled space in a container of liquid. In wine making, ullage also refers to the process of evaporation that creates a headspace itself or it can be used as a past tense verb to describe a wine barrel or bottle that has gone through the evaporation process (to be ullaged, etc). The headspace of air is a mixture mostly of alcohol and water vapors with carbon dioxide that is a by-product of the fermentation process.
In containers that are not completely air-tight (such as an oak wine barrel or a cork-stoppered wine bottle), oxygen can also seep into this space. While some oxygen is beneficial to the aging process of wine, excessive amounts can lead to oxidation and other various wine faults. This is why wine in the barrels is regularly ‘topped up’ and refilled to the top with wine in order to minimize the head space. In the bottle, the ullage or ‘fill level’of the wine can be an important indicator of the kind of care and storage conditions that the wine was kept in. After-market resellers and wine auction houses will often inspect the ullage levels of older vintages to determine the potential quality and value of wine.
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September 13, 2010
Shin-Lamedh-Mem are the three letter root of many Semitic words, including shalom and salām, which mean ‘peace’ (among other things) in Hebrew and Arabic respectively. The root itself translates as ‘whole, safe, intact.’
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September 13, 2010
Washlet is a registered trademark of Japanese toilet industry giant TOTO, referring to electric toilets with bidet functions. The first toilet with an integrated bidet was produced in the United States in 1964. The age of the high-tech toilet in Japan started in 1980 with the introduction of the Washlet G Series by Toto, and since then the product name washlet has been used to refer to all types of Japanese high-tech toilets. As of 2002, almost half of all private homes in Japan have such a toilet, exceeding the number of households with a personal computer.
While the toilet looks like a Western-style toilet at first glance, there are numerous additional features—such as blow dryer, seat heating, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, automatic flushing, wireless control panel, room heating and air conditioning for the room—included either as part of the toilet or in the seat. Recently, researchers have added medical sensors into these toilets, which can measure the blood sugar based on the urine, and also measure the pulse, blood pressure, and the body fat content of the user.
Posted in Health, Technology, World |
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September 13, 2010
A stalking horse is a person who acts on the behalf of an anonymous third party. The expression is generally used in politics and business. The term originally derived from the practice of hunting wildfowl, which flee immediately on the approach of humans, but tolerate the close presence of animals such as horses and cattle. Hunters slowly approach their quarry by walking alongside their horses, keeping out of sight until the flock is within firing range. Animals or devices used for this purpose are called stalking horses.
The phenomenon occurs particularly in politics, where a junior politician acts as the stalking horse to promote the interests of a senior politician who remains unseen in case the actions would damage him or her but nevertheless wants to provoke a debate or challenge to a party colleague. In some cases stalking horses are not working for a particular individual but may wish to provoke a response that leads others to join in. In politics, the truth about the relationship between an individual stalking horse and a candidate may never be known, as both sides may claim that the (alleged) stalking horse acted without the agreement of anyone else.
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September 13, 2010
Thorium [thawr-ee-uhm] is a chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It is a naturally occurring, lustrous white metal. It is estimated to be about three to four times more abundant than uranium in the Earth’s crust. It has been considered a waste product in mining rare earths, so its abundance is high and cost low. One ton of thorium produces the same energy as 200 tons of uranium, or 3.5 million tons of coal.
Edward Teller, co-founder and director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, promoted thorium energy until his death, and scientists in the United States, France, Japan, India, and Russia are now creating their own thorium-based power plants.
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September 13, 2010
Y Combinator is an American seed-stage startup funding firm, started in 2005 by Paul Graham, Robert Morris, Trevor Blackwell, and Jessica Livingston. Y Combinator provides seed money, advice, and connections at two 3-month programs per year. In exchange, they take an average of about 6% of the company’s equity. Compared to other startup funds, Y Combinator provides very little money ($17,000 for startups with 2 founders and $20,000 for those with 3 or more). This reflects Graham’s theory that between free software, dynamic languages, the web, and Moore’s Law, the cost of founding a startup has greatly decreased. The firm is named after a construct in the theory of functional programming.
Y Combinator was started after Graham gave a talk at his alma mater, Harvard (where he earned a PhD in Computer Science). He suggested founders seek seed funding from angel investors preferably those who had made money in technology. He soon after organized Y Combinator to offer seed funding to startups. As of June 2009, Y Combinator had funded over 118 startups. The number of startups funded in each cycle has been gradually increasing. The first cycle in summer 2005 had eight startups. In the summer 2010 cycle, there were 38. Some of the better-known funded companies include Reddit and Dropbox.
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September 13, 2010
Eddie the Head is the mascot for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture in the album cover art, as well as ever present in their live shows.The character was created by artist Derek Riggs. Riggs claimed that the design was based on a Japanese head he saw on a television documentary, hanging on the side of a burned out tank at the Matanikau River during the Battle for Henderson Field, October 24, 1942. The original Eddie was just a theatrical mask. It was connected to a pump that would eject various kinds of liquids, from food dye to paint, and would drool over Doug Sampson who was the drummer at the time.
The name originates from an old joke: Eddie the head was born with no body, no arms, and no legs. All he had was a head. But despite this major birth defect, his parents still loved him very much. So on his sixteenth birthday, his parents found a doctor that could surgically give Eddie a body. When the parents got home, they couldn’t wait to tell him that he could finally have a body and be like other normal people. When Eddie got there, they were really excited and said, ‘Have we got a surprise for you. It’s the best present ever!’ And Eddie said, ‘Oh no, not another f*****’ hat!’
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