On This Date
in 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman
in 1980, "O Canada" was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada
What Can Brown Do For You
UPS is trying to save money on gas by having their drivers make as many right turns as possible. Company execs say avoiding left turns keeps trucks moving and cuts down on idling times. This makes for faster deliveries and allowed the company to save over 3.3 million gallons of gas in 2007. UPS has a no-idling policy which requires drivers to kill their engines if they're sitting still for more than 30 seconds.
Big Bang Boom
225 million pounds of fireworks will be blown up this Fourth of July. 16,000 nationwide fireworks shows have been planned for this year. This year's hottest fireworks sellers include The Big O, Vixens From Venus, The Girls Next Door, Hicktown Heaven, Totally Jacked, The Big No-No, Cooking With Gas, Self-Destruction and One Bad Mother In Law. With fireworks shipments down by 15% this year due to a warehouse fire in China, the price of pyrotehnics has skyrocketed by an average of 30%.
Will Smith taught the entire cast and crew of Hancock how to solve the Rubik’s Cube.
He learned the skill for Pursuit of Happyness and used his time in between scenes to teach everyone how to conquer it. Meanwhile, his school, The New Village Academy, is denying reports they plan to teach students about the Church of Scientology when they open this fall. Academy director Jacqueline Olivier says, "We are a secular school, and just like all nonreligious independent schools, faculty and staff do not promote their own religions at school or pass on the beliefs of their particular faith to children."
Eddie Murphy says he is planning to retire
“I have close to fifty movies and it’s like, why am I in the movies? I’ve done that part now. I’ll go back to the stage and do standup.”
A survey by jobs2view.com reveals that 26% of college graduates feel their degree is a waste of time. 5% of the respondents say they wish they had skipped college all together. Other findings:
- only 54% of people are working in their chosen career
- only 25% of people are working in their dream job
- 43% of people hold degrees that are irrelevant to their job
5 O'Clock Shadow
A new Daily Telegraph study reveals women love men who have stubble. They find them tough, mature, aggressive, dominant and masculine and also say they are the best romantic partners, either for a fling or a long-term relationship. Researchers carried out the study by using computer technology to alter pictures of 15 men’s faces so that they displayed different degrees of hairiness. Here are their findings:
Faces with full beards .. were judged to be the most masculine, aggressive and socially mature. They were also thought to look five years older. They were rated the least attractive and the worst choice for a short-term relationship.
Men with light beards .. were considered the most dominant.
Those with light stubble .. were rated the most attractive and as the ideal romantic partner for the short or long term.
Clean-shaven men .. finished at the bottom for masculinity, dominance, aggression, and social maturity, and they were the least favored choice as a long-term partner. They came second-to-last for attractiveness.
Report Card
A new AP study reveals 50% of Americans say U.S. schools are only doing only a fair to poor job of preparing kids for college and the work force. Other findings:
- 59% of whites, as compared to 42% of minorities, rate their nearest local school as good or excellent
- 75% of respondents say schools place too much emphasis on the wrong subjects. When asked what subjects should be given more time in school, 33% said math followed by English (21%).
Today's Question: "25% of American families regularly argue about this. What is it?"
Extra Clue: it's a chore
Answer: who will cut the grass
