Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Friday, May 14, 2010
7-Eleven
In 1927, Southland Ice Company in Dallas, Texas, began selling milk, eggs, and bread, and thereafter slowly expanded the packaged and canned items that its stores stocked. The company also began to increase its geographic reach, first in Texas, then in the United States, and finally throughout the world. Southland Ice called these Tote’m stores, since customers toted away their purchases. In 1946, the company changed the name of the stores to 7-Eleven, which reflected its hours of operation - 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Deism
The word "deist" was first coined by the Genevois Pierre Viret (1511 - 1571), to describe someone who believed in God but not in Jesus Christ.
Guillotine
Josepg-Ignace Guillotin did not design nor built the execution machine that bear his name. It was designed by Dr. Antoine Louis and was actually built by a carpenter named Monsieur Guedon or Guidon.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
The ridges on the F and J buttons, what are they for?
People who touch-type (type without looking) use these two ridges to determine the position of their fingers on the keyboard. Touch typists put the index finger of their left hand on F and the index finger of their right hand on J before they type so they know where their fingers are at.
QWERTY
It is an old format that dates back to the 1870's. It was created by Christopher Latham Scholes, a newspaper editor who sought to arrange the Sholes and Glidden typewriter keyboard in a way that keys on the typewriter keyboard would not jam. Typewriter letters were arranged on big metal bars that would jam up on early models because they would strike against each other if they were in close proximity to each other.
To that end, Scholes actually arranged the keys based on LESS probable word combinations, not most probable. So, for example, in typing the word "the", although the T, H, and E are fairly close to one another, they are arranged so that on an old typewriter, the metal bars that held the inked letter, that would strike the page, would not smack into one another and cause jams.
The popular theory behind QWERTY is that the English language makes the most use of the letters in the middle of the "home row" and less use of the letters at the ends of the keyboard. That is not exactly true. The wisdom behind the QWERTY keyboard was to actually SEPARATE letters that frequently appear together in words, so that their keys would not hit against each other and cause keys to jam. After many years, people got so used to the QWERTY keyboard that we have yet to change over from it, although superior typing models have been introduced.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Cookies! "AWWWWM-num-num-num-num..."
The word ‘cookie’ is derived from the Dutch word ‘koekje’, which meant “small or little cake.
In 1966, Henson drew three monsters who appeared in a General Foods commercial that featured three crunchy snack foods: Wheels, Crowns and Flutes. Each snack was represented by a different monster. The Wheel-Stealer was a short, fuzzy monster with wonky eyes and sharply pointed teeth. The Flute-Snatcher was a speed demon with a long, sharp nose and windblown hair. The Crown-Grabber was a hulk of a monster with a Boris Karloff accent and teeth that resembled giant knitting needles.
"These monsters had insatiable appetites for the snack foods they were named after. Each time the Muppet narrator, a human-looking fellow, fixes himself a tray of Wheels, Flutes and Crowns, they disappear before he can eat them. One by one, the monsters sneak in and zoom away with the snacks. Frustrated and peckish, the narrator warns viewers that these pesky monsters could be disguised as someone in your own home, at which point the monsters briefly turn into people and then dissolve back to monsters again."
As it turns out, these commercials were never aired—but all three monsters had a future in the Muppet cast. The Crown-Grabber was used in an Ed Sullivan Show sketch, in which he ruins a girl's beautiful day. Known from then on as the Beautiful Day Monster, he made a number of appearances on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. The Flute-Snatcher turned into Snake Frackle, a background monster from The Great Santa Claus Switch and The Muppet Show.
And then there's the Wheel-Stealer, who was destined for greater things.
In 1967, Henson used the Wheel-Stealer puppet for an IBM training film called "The Coffee Break Machine." In the sketch, the monster (with pointed fangs) devoured a complex machine as the machine described its purpose and construction. His greed gets the better of him, however, as the machine's recording continues (within his stomach), announcing that it is wired to self-destruct. The monster promptly explodes. This sketch was also performed in October 1967 on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Two years later, Henson pulled the puppet out of the box again for three commercials selling Munchos, a Frito-Lay potato chip. This time, the puppet was called Arnold. After the three ads were produced, Henson had the opportunity to renew the contract. He chose not to, because at that point he was working on Sesame Street.
Additional trivias:
Cookie Monster's birthday is November 2nd.
Unlike most other Muppets of Sesame Street, Cookie Monster has four fingers and a thumb.
The Metro Manila Film Festival
The Metro Manila Film Festival (it was first named as Metropolitan Film Festival) premiered on September 21, 1975 and the first film that was awarded Best Picture was Augusto Buenaventura’s Diligan mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa.Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada won the Best Actor while Charito Solis won the Best Actress Award for Araw Araw, Gabi-Gabi.
In 1977, Metropolitan Film Festival was changed to Metro Manila Film Festival and Celso Ad Castillio’s Burlesk Queen copped 95% of all awards including a Best Actress win for Vilma Santos (now the governor of Batangas).
For most awards, they are: Nora Aunor (7 awards), Christopher De Leon (6 awards) and Vilma Santos (4 awards).
Fernando Poe Jr. never won an acting/director awards on his Panday series.
Sharron Cuneta grabbed the Best Acting Award in Crying Ladies while Maricel Soriano bagged 2 Best Actress Awards.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Rosebud
"ROSEBUD" was CITIZEN KANE'S last word on his deathbead in the movie Citizen Kane made in 1941. ROSEBUD was a SLED he had as a child and the frame of the story of the movie was searching for the meaning his last word.
Go Joe!!!
Beatles Trivia
The Beatles got their name from a line in the movie "The Wild Ones". Lee Marvin's character had a line in the movie where he referred to the women in the gang as "beetles." The Beatles changed the 'ee' to 'ea' so it was like the musical term 'beat'.
The BEATLES won a GRAMMY in 1964 for "BEST NEW ARTIST".
The BEATLES's movie HELP was originally titled "Eight arms to hold you".
The BEATLES played Shea Stadium in New York City on August 15, 1965 playing for 35 minutes and sang 12 songs in front of 56,000 fans. They were paid $160,000.
The BEATLES movie "A Hard Day's Night" won TWO Academy Awards.
The BEATLES gave The ROLLING STONES their first hit single "I WANNA BE YOUR MAN".
Before he was a BEATLE, JOHN LENNON was the leader of the group called THE QUARRYMEN, named after The QUARRY BANK GRAMMAR SCHOOL located in Woolton, England.
The BEATLES won a GRAMMY in 1964 for "BEST NEW ARTIST".
The BEATLES's movie HELP was originally titled "Eight arms to hold you".
The BEATLES played Shea Stadium in New York City on August 15, 1965 playing for 35 minutes and sang 12 songs in front of 56,000 fans. They were paid $160,000.
The BEATLES movie "A Hard Day's Night" won TWO Academy Awards.
The BEATLES gave The ROLLING STONES their first hit single "I WANNA BE YOUR MAN".
Before he was a BEATLE, JOHN LENNON was the leader of the group called THE QUARRYMEN, named after The QUARRY BANK GRAMMAR SCHOOL located in Woolton, England.
First test Tube baby
The first TEST TUBE BABY born in the United States on December 28, 1981 is Elizabeth Jordan Carr.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Monday, September 01, 2008
ABU SAYYAF GROUP
The Abu Sayyaf Group is a Muslim terrorist organization based on Basilan Island, one of the southern islands in the Philippine archipelago. Since the mid- 1990s, the group, whose origins are somewhat obscure, has carried out terrorist attacks in the Philippines, including a series of high-profile kidnappings in 2000 and 2001.
For centuries, the southern Philippines have had a substantial Muslim population. Sixteenth-century Spanish colonizers spread Christianity to the northern islands, treating the Muslims as a despised minority; the area has seen periodic violence ever since. Its people are among the poorest in the country. In the early 1970s, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) began a war of secession against the Philippine government.
Although the fortunes of the MNLF and its splinter group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have risen and fallen over the past 30 years, violence and lawlessness have been a constant in the southern islands. Defections, desertions, and ideological disputes have resulted in many armed bands roaming the islands.
Abu Sayyaf began as one such band of former guerrillas, led by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalania, a charismatic former Islamic scholar who had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Abu Sayyaf means “Bearer of the Sword.” The group first came to light about 1994; at that time, it was thought to be a small splinter faction of the MILF. Most observers now consider it to be an entirely independent group. Early in its existence Abu Sayyaf established connections with international Muslim terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, and members may have received training and support from these groups.
Abu Sayyaf professes a desire for an independent Muslim state for the Philippines’ Muslim population, to be governed under shari’a law. In practice, however, the group’s attacks and particularly its kidnappings seem to have been motivated more by potential profit than by ideological or military significance; the Philippine government has long considered them to be mere bandits. In the mid-1990s, Abu Sayyaf’s strength was estimated at 500 members. Ransom money received from kidnappings has since increased that number, with some commentators believing the group to have as many as 4,000 members. Its stronghold is Basilan Island, though it operates on other Muslim-populated islands as well.
Starting in the late 1990s, Abu Sayyaf increased its numbers of kidnappings in Basilan and elsewhere. At first it targeted wealthy Filipino businessmen, usually releasing the captives after ransom had been paid, but sometimes killing them regardless. In March 2000, the group gained international attention after raiding
a local school, taking 27 hostages, most of them children. On April 23, the Army launched a dangerous raid against the Abu Sayyaf compound housing the hostages. Four terrorists were killed; 15 hostages were freed—10 of them seriously wounded. Most of the terrorists escaped into the jungle, taking 5 hostages with them.
Later that day, a different faction of Abu Sayyaf struck again, this time abducting victims from a resort on the nearby island of Sipidan, which is part of Malaysia. The second group took 23 hostages, 19 of them Malaysian and Filipino hotel staff but also several foreign tourists. Some of the journalists covering the kidnappings were also abducted; the hostages eventually included French, German, Finnish, Lebanese, U.S., and South African nationals. The international spotlight was now focused on the Philippine government, which felt compelled to act. Concerned for the safety of their citizens, the French, German, and South African governments prevailed upon the Filipinos to negotiate with the second group of hostage takers rather than launch another risky raid. A Libyan diplomat offered to act as a go-between and negotiations began. After months of negotiations, a ransom of undisclosed amount was paid to Abu Sayyaf and a dozen of the hostages were released. The kidnappers refused to part with the remainder, and President Estrada launched a massive military strike against the group in September 2000. The risky move secured their release. In May 2001, another kidnapping was similarly resolved through military action.
Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and taking into consideration Abu Sayyaf’s connections to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, in January 2002 the U.S. government acceded to the request of Philippine president Gloria Arroyo and pledged $100 million in military aid for the elimination of Abu Sayyaf. The United States sent 660 U.S. Army Special Forces troops to act as military advisors, training the Philippine Army in counterterrorism tactics. The aid package caused considerable controversy in the Philippines but seems to have the support of the public, especially as President Arroyo pledged that the Special Forces troops will remain only for a short time. The success of the operation was thrown into question, however, when some surviving members kidnapped six Jehovah’s witnesses on the island of Jolo and killed at least two of the victims.
Source: Encyclopedia of Terrorism by Harvey Kushner.
For centuries, the southern Philippines have had a substantial Muslim population. Sixteenth-century Spanish colonizers spread Christianity to the northern islands, treating the Muslims as a despised minority; the area has seen periodic violence ever since. Its people are among the poorest in the country. In the early 1970s, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) began a war of secession against the Philippine government.
Although the fortunes of the MNLF and its splinter group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have risen and fallen over the past 30 years, violence and lawlessness have been a constant in the southern islands. Defections, desertions, and ideological disputes have resulted in many armed bands roaming the islands.
Abu Sayyaf began as one such band of former guerrillas, led by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalania, a charismatic former Islamic scholar who had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Abu Sayyaf means “Bearer of the Sword.” The group first came to light about 1994; at that time, it was thought to be a small splinter faction of the MILF. Most observers now consider it to be an entirely independent group. Early in its existence Abu Sayyaf established connections with international Muslim terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, and members may have received training and support from these groups.
Abu Sayyaf professes a desire for an independent Muslim state for the Philippines’ Muslim population, to be governed under shari’a law. In practice, however, the group’s attacks and particularly its kidnappings seem to have been motivated more by potential profit than by ideological or military significance; the Philippine government has long considered them to be mere bandits. In the mid-1990s, Abu Sayyaf’s strength was estimated at 500 members. Ransom money received from kidnappings has since increased that number, with some commentators believing the group to have as many as 4,000 members. Its stronghold is Basilan Island, though it operates on other Muslim-populated islands as well.
Starting in the late 1990s, Abu Sayyaf increased its numbers of kidnappings in Basilan and elsewhere. At first it targeted wealthy Filipino businessmen, usually releasing the captives after ransom had been paid, but sometimes killing them regardless. In March 2000, the group gained international attention after raiding
a local school, taking 27 hostages, most of them children. On April 23, the Army launched a dangerous raid against the Abu Sayyaf compound housing the hostages. Four terrorists were killed; 15 hostages were freed—10 of them seriously wounded. Most of the terrorists escaped into the jungle, taking 5 hostages with them.
Later that day, a different faction of Abu Sayyaf struck again, this time abducting victims from a resort on the nearby island of Sipidan, which is part of Malaysia. The second group took 23 hostages, 19 of them Malaysian and Filipino hotel staff but also several foreign tourists. Some of the journalists covering the kidnappings were also abducted; the hostages eventually included French, German, Finnish, Lebanese, U.S., and South African nationals. The international spotlight was now focused on the Philippine government, which felt compelled to act. Concerned for the safety of their citizens, the French, German, and South African governments prevailed upon the Filipinos to negotiate with the second group of hostage takers rather than launch another risky raid. A Libyan diplomat offered to act as a go-between and negotiations began. After months of negotiations, a ransom of undisclosed amount was paid to Abu Sayyaf and a dozen of the hostages were released. The kidnappers refused to part with the remainder, and President Estrada launched a massive military strike against the group in September 2000. The risky move secured their release. In May 2001, another kidnapping was similarly resolved through military action.
Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and taking into consideration Abu Sayyaf’s connections to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, in January 2002 the U.S. government acceded to the request of Philippine president Gloria Arroyo and pledged $100 million in military aid for the elimination of Abu Sayyaf. The United States sent 660 U.S. Army Special Forces troops to act as military advisors, training the Philippine Army in counterterrorism tactics. The aid package caused considerable controversy in the Philippines but seems to have the support of the public, especially as President Arroyo pledged that the Special Forces troops will remain only for a short time. The success of the operation was thrown into question, however, when some surviving members kidnapped six Jehovah’s witnesses on the island of Jolo and killed at least two of the victims.
Source: Encyclopedia of Terrorism by Harvey Kushner.
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