Saturday, December 27, 2014

Things I learned lately - 27 Dec


  • If you habitually lose things, it can help if you focus on the act of putting something down instead of just doing it in passing. It also helps to mentally create a precise visual scene of the place. Take note of the surface on which you're resting an object. Is it wood, steel, or concrete? Red or blue? Is there a photograph or an object nearby that you can keep in mind? Noticing these details can be key to establishing an emotional connection to the item, and this connection can help you recall the memory. Lastly, it helps to put stuff in the same place each time.
  • Quebec will offer electric vehicle (EV) incentives and gas vehicle penalties based on engine size. They will offer an $8,000 rebate for EV purchases, plus up to $1,000 toward the installation of a home charger. They're also imposing additional registration fees for fossil fuel vehicles based on the size of their engines. Beginning in 2016 cars with 4.0-4.9 litre engines will be charged an extra $50, 5.0-5.9 litre engines an extra $100, and cars with 6.0+ litre engines will cost an added $200 to register.
  • Car2Go now has 1,000,000 members.
  • Milan is motivating drivers to go transit by using black boxes to tell when the car is at home. Every day an owner leaves their car at home between 7:30am and 7:30pm will get $1.84 via coded text, enough to buy transit fare using that same text.
  • AudiShare is a new car sharing program starting out in Sweden where up to 5 drivers can share the lease on any Audi model and schedule usage via an app.
  • The sports bra wasn't invented until 1977.
  • Washington DC city council may pass a 'living wage' bill that would require large retailers to pay employees at least $12.50 per hour. The current minimum wage is $8.25/hr. Wal-Mart workers across the country have been striking for better pay, healthcare benefits and sick days. Wal-Mart has said if this bill passes it will halt plans to open stores in Washington DC. Ahhh, so that's how you get rid of WalMart......
  • The average ticket price to see The Rolling Stones in concert is $370. Per person.
  • The next (planned) Mars rover will be able to send samples back to Earth. I sense a great sci-fi horror movie plot possible here.
  • The iPhone camera doesn't actually take the picture until you 'release' the shutter button, so you can hold the button while you frame the shot.
  • A Canadian team of engineers won a competition to build and fly a human-powered helicopter (named Atlas) to an altitude of 3.3m for at least 60 seconds.
  • Bottled water costs as much as 2000X as much as tap water.

1 comment:

Retro Blog said...

I blame bottled water on crappy fresh water infrastructure and the petrochemical complex. You should see our basement. If it floods here we can walk to shore on floating water bottles. Yeppers. Would recycle but would rather donate to someone who comes and picks up.