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bmo

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Posts posted by bmo

  2. Posted · Report reply

    From The London Times:

    A Well-Planned Retirement

    Outside England’s Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses.
    For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant....
    The fees for cars ($1.40), for buses (about $7).

    Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn't show up;

    so the zoo management called the city council and asked it to send them another parking agent.

    The council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the zoo's own responsibility.

    The zoo advised the council that the attendant was a city employee.

    The city council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the city payroll.

    Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain, or France, or Italy;

    is a man who'd apparently had a ticket booth installed completely on his own and then

    had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees,

    estimated at about $560 per day -- for 25 years.

    Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over $7 million dollars... and no one even knows his name.

    • Like 2

  3. Posted · Report reply

    From the Uncluttered Minds of Babes...

    A little  girl was talking to her teacher about whales.  The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because, even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small.   The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.  
    Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.  The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."   The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"  The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."


    A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing.  She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.  As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.  The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."  The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."  Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."   


    A  Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five- and six-year-olds.   After explaining the commandment to honor thy father and thy mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"  From the back, one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."


    One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink.  She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.  She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mother?"  Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."  The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Mother, how come ALL of Grandma's hairs are white?"  The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.  "Just think how nice it will be to  look at it when you are all grown up and say, "There's Jennifer; she's a lawyer," or "That's Michael; he's a  doctor."  A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher; she's dead."


    A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood.  Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it and I would turn red in the face."  "Yes," the class said.  "Then why is it that, while I am standing upright in the ordinary position, the blood doesn't run into my feet?"  A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."

    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Today, I am giving you a DAILY SURVIVAL KIT to help you each day during this 2018 year...

    Toothpick ... to remind you to pick the good qualities in everyone, including yourself.

    Rubber band ... to remind you to be flexible. Things might not always go the way you want, but it can be worked out.

    Band-Aid ... to remind you to heal hurt feelings, either yours or someone else's.

    Eraser ... to remind you everyone makes mistakes. That's okay, we learn from our errors.

    Candy Kiss ... to remind you everyone needs a hug or a compliment everyday.

    Mint ... to remind you that you are worth a mint to your family & Me.

    Bubble Gum ... to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything.

    Pencil ... to remind you to list your blessings every day.

    Tea Bag ... to remind you to take time to relax daily and go over that list of blessings.

    This is what makes life worth living every minute, every day

    Wishing all love, gratitude, friends to cherish, caring, sharing,
    laughter, music, and warm feelings in your heart in the 2018 year.

    • Like 2

  5. Posted · Report reply

    1 - Paczki is plural and pronounced Pooch-key.  Paczek is singular, meaning one pastry and pronounced Poon-check.

     

    2 - Don't call them Jelly Donuts! The yeasty dough used to make these contains more eggs, therefore the flavor is richer.

     

    3 - While the Polish name Paczki translates to " little package " they are hardly little.  They are bigger than regular filled donuts.

     

    4 - In Poland, the day to splurge on Paczki is the Thursday before Lent, so it is celebrated Feb. 5th and up until Tuesday.

     

    5 - Grain alcohol used in the dough before cooking to prevent the absorbtion of oil so the pastry is not greasy.

     

    6 - On th eoutside Paczki can be plain, dusted with powered sugar or covered with icing or glaze.

     

    Now you know more STUFF...

    • Like 2

  10. Posted · Report reply

    The value of a Catholic education and a #2 pencil.

    Little Susie was not the best student in Catholic School . Usually she slept through the class.

    One day her teacher, a Nun, called on her while she was sleeping.

    'Tell me Susie, who created the universe?'

    When Susie didn't stir, little Jack who was her friend sitting behind her, took his pencil and jabbed her in the rear.

    'God Almighty!' shouted Susie.

    The Nun said, 'Very good' and continued teaching her class.

    A little later the Nun asked Susie, 'Who is our Lord and Savior?'

    But Susie didn't stir from her slumber. Once again, little Jack came to her rescue and stuck her in the butt.

    'Jesus Christ!!!' shouted Susie.

    And the Nun once again said, 'Very good,' and Susie fell back asleep.

    The Nun asked her a third question...'What did Eve say to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?'

    Again, Jack came to the rescue. This time Susie jumped up and shouted,

    'If you stick that damn thing in me one more time, I'll break it in half!'

    The Nun fainted.

    • Like 2

  15. Posted · Report reply

    The Spelling Error...

    Let me tell you friends that one simple spelling mistake - even a typo can make your life hell.

    I recently texted a short, romantic note to my wife while I was away on a fishing trip to Basswood,

    and I missed one small "e".

    No problem you might say.
    Not so.
    This tiny error has caused me to seek Police protection to enter my own house.

    I wrote,
    "Hi darling,  I'm enjoying and experiencing the best time of my whole life, and I wish you were her!”

    • Like 2

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Robot Bartender...


    An American goes into a bar in Calgary where there is a robot bartender.
    The robot says, “What will you have?
    The guy replies, “Whiskey.”
    The robot brings back his drink and asks, “What’s your IQ?”
    The guy say, “168”
    The robot continues to talk about physics, space exploration, and medical technology.


    After the guy leaves and the more he thinks about it, the more curious he gets, so he decides to go back.
    The robot asks, “What’s your drink?”
    The guy answers, “Whiskey.”
    The robot returns with his drink and asks, “What’s your IQ?”
    The man replies, “100.”
    The robot talks about Nascar, Budweiser, the Lions, and LSU.
    The man finishes his drink, leaves, but is so interested in his “experiment” that he decides to try again.

    He enters the bar and, as usual, the robot asks him what he want to drink.
    The man replies, “Whiskey.”
    The robot brings the drink and asks, “What’s your IQ?”
    The man answers, “50.”
    The robot leans in real close and asks, “So . . are . . . you people . . . still unhappy Hillary didn't get in ?

    • Like 2

  17. Posted · Report reply

    A Think Tank's Crystal Ball Predictions - Our Future.?

    An interesting talk by the Head of Daimler Benz a bit mind blowing to say the least !

    In a recent interview, the Head of Daimler Benz (Mercedes Benz) said their competitors are no longer other car companies, but Tesla, and now, Google,  Apple, Amazon 'et al' are……  Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

    Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.
    Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.

    Artificial Intelligence:  Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world.  This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected..

    In the U.S.., young lawyers already can't get jobs.  Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.  So, if you study law, stop immediately.  There will be 90% less lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.

    Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurate than human nurses.  Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

    Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public.  

    Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted.  You don't want to own a car anymore.  You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.  You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and you can be productive while driving.  Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car.

    It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% less cars for that.  We can transform former parking spaces into parks.  

    1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide.  We now have one accident every 60,000 miles (100,000 km), with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 6 million miles (10 million km).  That will save a million lives each year.

    Most car companies will probably go bankrupt.  Traditional car companies will try the traditional approach and try to build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will take the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.
    Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi are completely terrified of Tesla.

    Auto Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, car insurance will become much cheaper.  Their car insurance business model will slowly disappear.

    Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

    Electric cars will become mainstream about 2020.  Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run on electricity.  Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean:  Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, and now you can now see the burgeoning impact.

    Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil.   Energy companies are desperately trying to limit access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar installations, but that can't last.  Technology will take care of that strategy.

    With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water.  Desalination of salt water now only needs 2kwh per cubic meter (@ 0.25 cents).  We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water.  Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

    Health innovations:  The Tricorder X price will be announced this year.  There are companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample, and you can breath into it.
    It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease.  It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medical analysis, nearly for free.  Goodbye, medical establishment.

    3D printing:  The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years.  In the same time, it became 100 times faster.  All major shoe companies have already started 3D printing shoes.
    Some common spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports.  

    The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to keep in the past.

    At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities.  

    You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoes at home.

    In China, they already 3D printed and built a complete 6-storey office building.  By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.

    Business opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself:  "In the future, do you think we will have that?", and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?
    If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea.

    Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years.  There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.

    Agriculture:  There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all day on their fields.

    Aeroponics will need much less water.  The first Petri dish that produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow produced veal in 2018.  Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows.  Imagine if we don't need that space anymore.  

    There are several startups who will bring insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat.  It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

    There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you're in.  
    By 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions, if you are lying..   Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they're telling the truth and when they're not.

    Longevity:  Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year.  Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year.  So, we all might live for a long time, probably way more than 100.

    Education:  The cheapest smart phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia.  By 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smart phone.  That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.

    Every child can use Khan academy for everything a child needs to learn at school in First World countries. There have already been releases of software in Indonesia and soon there will be releases in Arabic, Swahili, and Chinese this summer. I can see enormous potential if we give the English app for free, so that children in Africa and everywhere else can become fluent in English.  And that could happen within half a year.


    Are you ready for all this ? ! ? ! ?

     

    • Like 4

  18. Posted · Report reply

    A spacecraft graveyard exists in the middle of the ocean — here's what's down there

    By Dave Moshe

    Taken from: 

    http://www.businessinsider.com/spacecraft-cemetery-point-nemo-google-maps-2017-10

    The most remote location on Earth has many names: It's called Point Nemo (Latin for "no one") and the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility. Most precisely, its exact coordinates are 48 degrees 52.6 minutes south latitude and 123 degrees 23.6 minutes west longitude.

    The spot is about 1,450 nautical miles from any spot of land — and the perfect place to dump dead or dying spacecraft, which is why its home to what NASA calls its "spacecraft cemetery."

    "It's in the Pacific Ocean and is pretty much the farthest place from any human civilization you can find," NASA said.

    Bill Ailor, an aerospace engineer and atmospheric reentry specialist, put it another way: "It's a great place you can put things down without hitting anything," he said.

    To "bury" something in the cemetery, space agencies have to time a crash over that spot. Smaller satellites don't generally end up at Point Nemo, since, as NASA explains, "the heat from the friction of the air burns up the satellite as it falls toward Earth at thousands of miles per hour. Ta-da! No more satellite."

    The problem is larger objects, like Tiangong-1: the first Chinese space station, which launched in September 2011 and weighs about 8.5 tons.

    China lost control of the 34-foot-long orbital laboratory in March 2016, and it is now doomed to crash by early 2018.

    Where, exactly? No one yet knows. Ailor, who works for the nonprofit Aerospace Corporation, said his company likely won't generate a forecast until five days before the space station is expected to break apart in Earth's atmosphere.

    When it does, hundreds of pounds of the spacecraft — like titanium scaffolding and glass-fiber-wrapped fuel tanks — could be falling at more than 180 miles per hour before slamming into the ground.

    Since China doesn't have control of Tiangong-1, it can't assure the space station will disintegrate over Point Nemo.
    The dead-spacecraft dumping zone

    Astronauts living aboard the International Space Station actually live closer to the graveyard of spacecraft than anyone else. This is because the ISS orbits about 250 miles above Earth — and Point Nemo, when the orbital laboratory flies overhead. (The nearest island, meanwhile, is much farther away.)

    Between 1971 and mid-2016, space agencies all over the world dumped at least 260 spacecraft into the region, according to Popular Science. That tally has risen significantly since the year 2015, when the total was just 161, per Gizmodo.

    Buried under more than two miles of water is the Soviet-era MIR space station, more than 140 Russian resupply vehicles, several of the European Space Agency's cargo ships (like the Jules Verne ATV), and even a SpaceX rocket, according to Smithsonian.com.

     These dead spacecraft aren't neatly tucked together, though.

    Ailor said a large object like Tiangong-1 can break apart into an oval-shaped footprint of debris that extends 1,000 miles long and dozens of miles wide. Meanwhile, the land-free zone around Point Nemo stretches more than 6.6 million square miles — so paying your respects to a specific item isn't easy.

    While not all spacecraft wind up in the cemetery, the chances are extremely slim that anyone would get hit by debris regardless of where the spacecraft break up on Earth, Ailor said.

    "It's not impossible, but since the beginning of the space age .... a woman who was brushed on the shoulder in Oklahoma is the only one we're aware of who's been touched by a piece of space debris," he said.

    A bigger risk is leaving dead spacecraft in orbit.

     Some 4,000 satellites currently orbit Earth at various altitudes. There's space for more — even the 4,425 new internet-providing satellites that Elon Musk and SpaceX wish to launch in the near future.

    But it's getting crowded up there when considering the threat of space junk.

    In addition to all those satellites, there are thousands of uncontrolled rocket bodies orbiting earth, along with more than 12,000 artificial objects larger than a fist, according to Space-Track.org. That's not to mention countless screws, bolts, flecks of paint, and bits of metal.

    "Countries have learned over the years that when they create debris, it presents a risk to their own systems just as it does for everybody else," Ailor said.

    The worst kind of risk, according to the European Space Agency, is when a piece of space junk accidentally hits another piece, especially if the objects are large.

    Such satellite collisions are rare but do happen; one occurred in 1996, another in 2009, and two in 2013. These accidents — along with the intentional destruction of space satellites — have generated countless pieces of space debris that can threaten satellites in nearby orbits years later, leading to a kind of runaway effect.

    "We've figured out that this debris can stay up there for hundreds of years," Ailor said.

    Getting old spacecraft out of orbit is a key to preventing the formation of space junk, and many space agencies and corporations now build spacecraft with systems to de-orbit them (and land them in the spacecraft cemetery).

    But Ailor and others are pushing for the development of new technologies and methods that can lasso, bag, tug, and otherwise remove the old, uncontrolled stuff that's already up there and continues to pose a threat.

    "I've proposed something like an XPRIZE or a Grand Challenge, where would you identify three spacecraft and give a prize to an entity to remove those things," he said.

    The most important hurdle to clear, though, may be politics on Earth.

    "It's not just a technical issue. This idea of ownership gets to be a real player here," Ailor said. "No other nation has permission to touch a US satellite, for instance. And if we went after a satellite ... it could even be deemed an act of war."

    Ailor said someone needs to get nations together to agree on a treaty that spells out laws-of-the-sea-like salvage rights to dead or uncontrollable objects in space.

    "There needs to be something where nations and commercial [companies] have some authority to go after something," he said.

    • Like 3
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