Thursday, August 4, 2016

News


Some items that you may have missed . . .
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NASA to study asteroid that could destroy Earth


From news.com:

NASA is planning to launch a probe to study an “Armageddon” asteroid that could one day pulverise the Earth. The asteroid, named Bennu, crosses Earth’s orbit once every six years and has gotten ever closer since it was discovered in 1999, reports the New York Post. In 2135, Bennu will fly between the moon and Earth — a hair’s breadth in space terms, the Sunday Times of London reported.


I know just the man for the job, we should either clone him or cryogenically freeze him now so that we have him available when the time comes, like Austin Powers . . . 


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Skydiver jumps without a chute, falls 7,600 metres to land in a teeny weeny net:


Guinness World Records has confirmed a new record by Luke Aikins (USA) for idiocy for a risky daredevil stunt by leaping 25,000 ft (7,600 m) from a plane without wearing a wingsuit or a parachute. The stunt – named ‘Heaven Sent’ – is officially the highest skydive without a parachute ever. During the freefall, the 42-year-old American had only his body and a GPS unit to direct his movements towards a 10,000-square-foot net he needed to land in, in order to survive the jump. 




It puts one in mind of the riddle:
Q: What is the last thing you hear before a redneck dies?
A: “Hey y’all, watch this.”
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A Kings Cross landmark updated:

You know the massive flashing Coca Cola sign at the top of William Street in Kings Cross? . . .


It was constructed in 1976 and is undergoing an overhaul with 800 lamps removed to be replaced with a more energy efficient billboard. Restoration is almost complete but workers picked an unfortunate stage to knock off work for the day . . .


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Museum Unveils Henry VIII's Flagship


The Mary Rose was a warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. After serving for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany and after being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her last action on 19 July 1545. While leading the attack on the galleys of a French invasion fleet, she sank in the Solent, the straits north of the Isle of Wight. The wreck of the Mary Rose was rediscovered in 1971. It was salvaged in 1982 by the Mary Rose Trust, in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology. The surviving section of the ship and thousands of recovered artefacts are of immeasurable value as a Tudor-era time capsule. 

Following a 34-year, $50 million odyssey, the ship has resurfaced on display at The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, U.K. Also on display are some of the 10,000 artefacts recovered.


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Australians threaten to boycott the 2016 Census amid security concerns their personal data will be 'a honeypot for hackers'


This year, providing names in the Australian Census of Population and Housing on August 9 is compulsory, and personal information will be retained for four years. Previously, providing a name was optional and they were kept only until other Census data had been recorded or for up to 18 months. Those who don’t fill out the Census will face fines of $180 per day, while those who submit misleading information could pay up to $1800. 


There goes listing my religion as Jedi.

Btw, if you want a paper census form instead of entering the information online, call 1300 820 275 – ypu have until mid September to lodge.


Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Quote for the Day


(For Carol)


Lysol


I came upon the following article in an online issue of the online Smithsonian magazine. It is hard to believe, as pointed out in the article, that birth control was illegal in the U.S. until 1965 (for married couples) and 1972 (for single people). Even harder to believe is that women were encouraged to use an industrial strength corrosive as a means of birth control. The article is reprinted in full below and can be found at:


Lysol’s Vintage Ads Subtly Pushed Women to Use Its Disinfectant as Birth Control

As if that wasn't bad enough, Lysol isn't even an effective contraceptive

By Rose Eveleth
smithsonian.com 
September 30, 2013


Vintage ads can be both hilarious and shocking, and some of the most often passed around old ads are these ones about women using “‘Lysol’ brand disinfectant” for “feminine hygiene.” The ad had women claiming, “I use Lysol always for douching.” At the time, Lysol was “an antiseptic soap whose pre-1953 formula contained cresol, a phenol compound reported in some cases to cause inflammation, burning, and even death,” says Mother Jones, and the thought of using that for douching is enough to make anybody wince.

But according to Lisa Wade at The Society Pages, that’s not actually what the ads are pushing. She writes:
These ads aren’t frightening women into thinking their genitals smell badly. According to historian Andrea Tone, “feminine hygiene” was a euphemism. Birth control was illegal in the U.S. until 1965 (for married couples) and 1972 (for single people). These Lysol ads are actually for contraception. The campaign made Lysol the best-selling method of contraception during the Great Depression.
Of course, as Wade points out, this still wasn’t a good idea: Lysol might have been corrosive to the sperm but it also damaged tissue inside the woman. And in fact the Lysol used back then was far stronger than our Lysol is today. Hundreds of people died from Lysol exposure, some of them women using it as birth control. Nicole Pasulka at Mother Jones writes:
By 1911 doctors had recorded 193 Lysol poisonings and five deaths from uterine irrigation. Despite reports to the contrary, Lysol was aggressively marketed to women as safe and gentle. Once cresol was replaced with ortho-hydroxydiphenyl in the formula, Lysol was pushed as a germicide good for cleaning toilet bowls and treating ringworm, and Lehn & Fink’s, the company that made the disinfectant, continued to market it as safeguard for women’s “dainty feminine allure.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lysol isn’t even an effective contraceptive.



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Some more Lysol ads . . .












Some more Lysol ads . . .

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

If there be no Bytes . . .

. . . over the next 6 days or so, it will be because of connection difficulties. Kate and I have had to move out of home into a motel whilst painting and floor polishing takes place after a house renovation. I have now learnt how to use the motel wifi but will be in Canberra for a few days as well. If I am off the air, it's nothing to worry about.


Quote for the Day



First Colour Photographs of Scotland



Byter Tobye P sent me the following email:
Hi Otto, my husband sent these stunning pics to me-you may have seen these before, but if not they’re worth a look, so I wanted to share.  
Regards, Tobye 
The pics sent by Tobye are preceded by a brief commentary:
The following images show Scottish cities, towns and attractions during the 1890s - and in colour. They were created using the Photochrom technique pioneered by Photoglob Zürich AG, which sees colour manually added to black-and-white negatives. The Swiss firm licensed the process to other companies such as the Detroit Photographic Company in the US and the Photochrom Company of London. The following images are among the most striking produced during the period...
As Tobye suggested, they are worth sharing, a look at a bygone era with charming photographs that are in a style and format suiting the period . . . 

High Street, Harwick

The beach, Portobello, Edinburgh

Largs from the pier

The Sma’Glen

Entrance to Glen Nevis, Fort William

Helensburgh

Abbotsford, near Melrose, on the south bank of the River Tweed

The entrance to Eglinton Castle, now abandoned

East Bay, Dunoon

Burns National Monument, Mauchline

Princes Street, the castle, and Scott Monument, Edinburgh

View of the Tay, Perth

St. Enochs Station, Glasgow

More to come in a future Bytes.

Thanks, Tobye

Btw, notice how the Brits and now the Scots rip off our place names . . .  Perth, Helensburgh, Abbotsford . . .


Monday, August 1, 2016

Quote for the Day



August


Byter Brett B always always takes the time to email me a list of special days and events in the coming month.

Below is Brett’s list for August.

Click on the ones in blue to find out more about those events.

Month:
  • Admit You're Happy Month
  • Family Fun Month
  • National Catfish Month
  • National Eye Exam Month
  • National Golf Month
  • Peach Month
  • Romance Awareness Month
  • Water Quality Month
  • National Picnic Month
Weekly Events:
  • Week 1 National Simplify your Life Week
  • Week 2 National Smile Week
  • Week 3 Friendship Week
  • Week 4 Be Kind to Humankind Week
August, 2016 Daily Holidays, Special and Wacky Days:
National Mustard Day first Saturday
Friendship Day - First Sunday in August
International Forgiveness Day - First Sunday in August
Sisters Day - First Sunday in August
Chinese Valentine's Day/Daughter's Day - 7th day of 7th Lunar Month
14/15 V-J Day - which date do you celerate as the end of WWII?
15 Relaxation Day - now this one's for me!
22 National Tooth Fairy Day - and/or February 28
28 Race Your Mouse Day -but we are not sure what kind of "mouse"

Thanks Brett.
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Some other August trivia:

This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year. About 700 BC it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus (despite common belief, he did not take a day from February. According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt.
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All horses born in the southern hemisphere celebrate their birthday on August 1 as a means of standardising horse-related (mostly sporting) events. This date is based on the breeding season of horses, so horses born in the northern hemisphere celebrate their birthday on January 1.