| Friday, October 10, 2003 |
| I M P R I M A T U R |
(with permission/utos ko/okey lang)
WHY DO AMERICAN CARS HAVE SIDE VIEW MIRRORS ON THEPASSENGERS SIDE WITH A MESSAGE,"OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR".
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a reasonable person might ask why the american automobile industry had to improive on those hopelessly old fashioned side view mirrors that didn't distort one's perception of distance. and why, if the inside rear view mirror shows objects without distortion, can't the side mirror do the same?
car manufacturers are required to provide flat, unit magnification mirrors on the driver's side of the car. the driver side mirrors offer the same undistorted image as the mirror in your medicine cabinet.
the mirrors are convex, convex surfaces curve outward. convex mirrors allow much wider angle of vision.drivers are less likely to be sideswiped when consulting a wide angle side view mirror, even if an oncoming car is closer than it appears, because they are more likely to spot the car in the firstplace.
the immortal word"Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" are mandated by the federal law on all convex mirrors.
WHY DO DOUGHNUTS HAVE HOLES
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some form of fired cake has existed in almost every culture."prehistoric doughnuts" - petrified fried cakes with holes - have been found among the artifactrs of a primitive indian tribe.the ducth settlers of america, thogu are usually credited with popularizing fired careks but without holes. which are called "oily cakes" or "olykoeks"
washington irving writing about colonial new york described "a dish of balls of sweetened dough fried in hog's fat and called DOUGH NUTS or OLYKOEKS".fried cakes became so popular in new york and new england that shops sprouted up that specialized in serving them with coffee.
the gentleman ususally credited with the "invention" of the doughnut hole was an unlikely candidate for the job. a sea captain Hanson Gregory. he was at the helm of his ship eating fried cake one night when stormy weather arose. Gregory, needing both hands to steer the ship, spontaneously rammed the cake over one of the spokes. impressed with his creation, Gregory orders the ship's cook to make fried cakes with holes in them from then on.
another version, in plymouth, massachusetts, advances the notion that the first doughnut hole was created when in the 17th century, a drunken indian brave shot an arrow through a kitchen window punching out a piece of dough from the center of a cake just about to be fired.
WHY DO WOMEN TEND TO HAVE HIGHER VOICES THAN THE MEN? WHY DO SHORT PEOPLE TEND TO HAVE HIGHER VOICES THAN TALL PEOPLE?
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fundamental frequency or voice pitch level is directly related to the length and thickness of the individual's vocal folds or vocal cords. the average man's vocal fold is approximately 18 millimeters, the average woman's is 10 millimeters. the tall person either gender is likely to have large vocal cords than a shorter person
of the same sex.
HOW DID XMAS COME TO STAND FOR CHRISTMAS?
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the use of the colloquial "XMAS" has often been singled out as an example of how the holiday has been commercialized and robbed of its religious content. X in Xmas is actually the descendant of the Greek equivalent of CH, as in CHRISTOS, which meant CHRIST. the letter X has stood for Christ since the least a.d 1100 and the term XMAS was first cited in 1551.word expert Eric Paetridge points out that the scholarly abbreviation for Christianiy is XIANITY.
(from Life's Imponderables) i shall return with part II, inaantok na ako. |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:30 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: infraternam meam
Home: Chicago, United States
About Me: I am now at the prime of my life
and have been married for the past 25 years.
Sickly at times, but wants to see the elixir vita,
so that I will be able to see my grandchildren from my two boys.
See my complete profile
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