Technicality: How to Lose USD 800,000

If you had USD 880,000 to place on the following question:

"Which popular product was first to go on sale in the US: Post-It Notes, the Sony Walkman, or Macintosh Computers?"

The big question is, would you put 800K of that on Post-It Notes? Even more importantly, how would you feel when you found out that the "correct" answer according to producers of the show, Million Dollar Money Drop, was the Sony Walkman?

This is something that Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayi experienced recently. Gabe was so confident that the Post-It Notes went on sale first that he risked 800K of their 800K pot. But, Gawker, one of my favourite sites of late, is reporting that the answer, Post-It Notes is in fact correct, particularly when one considers that the question did not stipulate whether "sale" had to be nationally. The YouTube video clearly shows how the question was constructed and what was required.

The truth of the matter is that Post-It Notes went on sale in a number of US states for a series of market trials in 1977. The Post-It Notes then went on sale nationally in 1980. The Sony Walkman went on sale in the US in 1979



The Facebook page of Post-It Notes seems to support arguments for Gabe and Brittany getting "their" money back. Nevertheless, Fox is standing firm behind the producers of their game show and arguing that Post-It Note agrees with them that they did not actually start selling Post-It Notes until 1980. Yet, despite these protestations, it would seem that it is a fairly well-established fact that Post-It Notes have been around for sale since 1977. So well-established that the New York Times even wrote a story quoting the first forays into Post-It Note sales occurred in 1977.

If Rupert Murdoch was a man of principle then he would be ordering the Million Dollar Money Drop game show and its producers to rectify their mistake and return the money to the contestants.

Little Known Facts...

This is something that seems to be doing the rounds on the blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and email. It depends on where you live as to what sport is involved.

The version that I received relates to cricket. But, I have recently seen a version for hockey. I am guessing there is probably one floating around for lacrosse as well.

Anyways...

A little known fact...

The first testicular guard (Box) was used in cricket in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. It took 100 years for men to realize that the brain is also important.

Odd Spots...

Friday and Saturday have been pretty dull days for me blog statistics wise. I guess the visits are inversely proportional (is that the right term / concept?) to the amount of smut or potentially smut-related posts that I do. I noticed my pot on Montana Fishburne trended pretty well there for a while.

Nope, this does not mean that more smut is on the way. Although, a disproportionate number of visitors are arriving here searching for a naked Luna Maya or Cut Tari, and hoping to find a full-frontal nude shot of BCL.

This post is just a random collection of factoids, trivia, and odd spots. David if you're out there and reading this, do your thing and shoot these things down in flames as impossibilities...I know you want to, and I know that you know that I want you to try!

So, here we go:

1. The average speed of an avalanche is 35km an hour;

2. One brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 frowns (so, if you are like me, then you went something like "bugger me, I must have frowned a whole frackin' lot during my short years on this earth");

3. Chocolate contains the same chemical that your brain produces when you fall in love - phenylethylamine;

4. A blue whale's heart beats at nine beats a minute;

5. Pandas spend about 12 hours of each day eating bamboo;

6. Someone who has an irrational fear of meat is carnophobic;

7. A snail can sleep for three years;

8. The valves of a human heart are as thick as a single piece of tissue paper; and

9. A claque is a group of people who are hired to applaud an act or a performer.

Enjoy!

Trivia for a Sunday Morning...

Because I know you want to know!

• A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
• No two spider webs are the same.
• The Neanderthal Man's brain was bigger than modern man's.
• It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world's population is drunk.
• A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
• The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
• Ancient Egyptian priests plucked every hair from their bodies, including eyebrows and eyelashes.
• Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he does not wear pants.
• A snail can sleep for three years.
• The largest number of children born to one woman is 69 in Russia.
• Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
• A study of 200,000 ostriches over 80 years did not record a single case of an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
• If you sneeze to hard you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Did You Know...Revisited

And, now for something a little lighter than the fare of the past...

Did you know that

1. the poisonous copperhead snake smells like fresh cut cucumbers;

2. the poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about 2,200 people;

3. more than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a phone call;

4. an iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes;

5. Some lions mate over 50 times a day; and

6. the youngest pope was eleven years old.

Have a nice day!

Trivial Stuff -- More Factoids

Here are a few more factoids for the "did you know" file.

1. In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders;

2. From the age of thirty, humans gradually begin to shrink (I am already nine years into my shrink -- and I am not sure that I can afford to shrink);

3. The juice inside a young coconut can be used as a substitute for blood plasma;

4. The youngest pope was eleven years old; and,

5. The largest cell in the human body is the female reproductive cell, the ovum. The smallest is the male sperm (this is why women will ultimately dominate the world :D).

Even More Trivia -- Fun Only (Still)...

Did you know any of the following:

1. An average four-year-old child asks 437 questions every day;

2. Every year, the Moon moves away from the earth a distance of 3.82cm;

3. That the Guinness Book of Records holds the record for the book most often stolen from public libraries;

4. Mageiricophobia is the fear of cooking;

5. The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows;

6. Tuna suffocate if they stop swimming;

7. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood we have only 206 bones;

8. The modern flushing toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper; and

9. The King of Hearts is the only king without a moustache.

Enjoy!

Some More Trivia -- Fun Only!

Did you know any of the following:

1. Only female ducks can quack;

2. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 muscles to frown;

3. No two spider webs are the same;

4. The average human body contains enough phosphorous to make 2,200 match heads;

5. Brontology is the study of thunder;

6. Fingernails grow faster on your favoured hand;

7. In ancient Rome, oysters were sold for their weight in gold;

8. Strawberries contain more vitamin C than oranges; and,

9. The tongue is the fastest healing part of the body.

Enjoy!

Some Trivia -- Fun Only!

Did you know any of the following?

1. The human brain is about 85% water;

2. The average human body makes enough carbon for about 900 pencils;

3. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times (I have posted this one before! But, I post it again because I am sure someone will try and prove that it can be done);

4. 23% of all photocopier faults are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their bums;

5. The average human body contains enough potassium to fire a toy canon;

6. A starfish does not have a brain; and,

7. Swans are the only birds with penises.

I hope this trivia comes in handy some day.

Interesting Fact...

Indonesia has the most known mammal species of all countries in the world. Unfortunately, it also has the most mammal species under threat of extinction.

Trivia -- Interesting Facts...

It has been a while since I posted some interesting, or not, piece of trivia. Generally, these tid bits are only every going to be useful in games like trivial pursuit or Jeopardy or maybe Who Wants to be a Millionaire. But, they are fun.

Did you know any of the following:

1. That each year insects eat one third of the world's food crop;

2. That human thighbones are as strong as concrete;

3. That apples, not caffeine are better at waking you up in the morning;

4. That the evidence of a bloodhound is admissible in an American court of law;

5. That a raisin in a glass of champagne will float to the top and then sink to the bottom over and over again;

6. That the average human body contains enough iron to make a 7.62cm nail;

7. That bulletproof vests, fire escapes, laser printers, and windscreen wipers were all invented by women;

8. That the first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, and was used by Egyptians as early as 2000 BC;

and,

9. That the human brain generates more electrical impulses in a day than all of the world's telephones combined.

Enjoy!

Interesting Facts -- A Return to Trivia

Did you know that a cat's lower jaw cannot move sideways?

Now you do!

Honey Bees

The factoid is back...

Did you know that a honey bee can fly at a speed of 15 miles per hour?

Now you do! And you are all welcome!

Swimming Pools and San Francisco

Did you know that if someone collected all of the water in swimming pools in the US that all that water would be enough to cover San Francisco?

Now you do!

Balls of Glass

Did you know that a ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber?

Not the post you thought it might be, was it?

Sleeping Bullfrog

The bullfrog is the only animal that never sleeps!

A Tale of Crocodile Tongues

I learned today that a crocodile cannot move its tongue.

I read this. I am not going to be sticking my head in a crocodile's mouth any time soon to find out for certain. I am just going to take the word of others on this one.

Vocal Cats

Another little factoid for the file.

Did you know that cats have over one hundred vocal sounds?

Well, now you do!

Once again I do not know who sat down to measure this and why. I also do not know why anyone might want to fund such research. Perhaps it is a study of animal language or something.

Enjoy your Thursday!

The House Fly

Did you know that the average speed of the house fly is 4.5 miles per hour?

Once again I wonder who is responsible for funding research such as this and who it is that does the research.

San Francisco Cable Cars

Today I have learned many things. This is one of those things.

Did you know that the San Francisco Cable Cars are the only mobile National Monument in the USA?