Learn something new every day

Here are some facts of which I have recently become aware:



1. An art project that creatively displays all sorts of interesting (and depressing) statistics about American culture. It would be much more effective to see in person, but the numbers and pictures are still striking. In a related note, I've been on a mission to reduce my usage of plastic and paper bags. I bought one of those canvas grocery bags. The next step is actually remembering to take it to the store with me when I go grocery shopping.



2. The protests in Myanmar have been all over the news lately. Guess who had no idea where or what Myanmar was? Um, me. I had a vague notion that it was somewhere in Asia, but wasn't sure if it was a country, a Chinese province, or an island. Good thing we've got the Google to shed some light on my ignorance! Myanmar is indeed a country, in fact, it's the largest country in Southeast Asia (see map). And hey, it used to be called Burma, which I've heard of, so I feel a little better about myself. Even though the name change occurred in 1989.


3. Did you know that you can use text Google for free on your phone? It doesn't work for everything, but it does give weather, sports scores, local listings, and even some translations. All you have to do is send a text to GOOGL or 46645 (I hate phone numbers that are spelled out. Just give me the number, I don't want to have to look at the buttons and decipher it. Another pet peeve of mine is when you ask someone for the time, and the person shows you his or her watch. Especially if it's a dial face that only has like 4 or less numbers on it. I'm not asking for permission to look at your confusing watch, I'm asking for you to tell me the time!). For example, if you text "pizza" and your zip code, you'll received a text containing the names, addresses, and phone numbers of local pizza places. Cool, huh?