Friday 1/27/23
Celebrate:
Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day
National Activity Professionals Day
National Big Wig Day
National Chocolate Cake Day
National Fun at Work Day
National Geographic Day
National Preschool Health and Fitness Day
Punch the Clock Day
Vietnam Peace Day
World Breast Pumping Day
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Today is also Thomas Crapper Day - did not invent the toilet—that is usually credited to John Harrington in 1596—he did help perfect and popularize it. We celebrate him today, on the anniversary of his death, which happened in 1910. Among his patents are four for drain improvements, three for water closets, one for pipe joints, and one for manhole covers.
His plumbing products were used by the British royal family, and his manhole covers were used at Westminster Abbey. He is also associated with an invention that allowed a toilet to flush when it was only half full, but this was not actually his invention, it belonged to Albert Giblins. Crapper was the first to make bathroom fixture showrooms and talked proudly about toilets at a time when not many did.
So how did the word "crapper" become a common slang term for the toilet? American soldiers in Europe during World War I saw the word "Crapper" emblazoned on toilets, and thought it was pretty funny that crap was going in them, so they started calling them that. As for "crap" itself? It appears to be a form of the Middle Dutch word "krappe," which means "anything cut off or separated."
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The new movie this weekend is
Infinity Pool - a Horror suspense movie
and look for nominated films, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Banshees of Inisherin, and The Fablemans.
Also Avatar: The Way of Water is still showing, as is animated nominee Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
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Paris Hilton is saying "that's hot" to motherhood!
The social media mogul, reality star, and DJ, 41, has welcomed her first child, a son, with her husband, venture capitalist Carter Reum, 41, her representative confirmed to USA TODAY.
Hilton alluded to her new bundle of joy on Instagram Tuesday, posting a picture of what appears to be her baby's hand grasping her thumb.
"You are already loved beyond words," Hilton wrote, adding a blue heart emoji.
Hilton opened up about her life as a mom in a statement to People, published Tuesday.
"It's always been my dream to be a mother and I'm so happy that Carter and I found each other," she said. "We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy."
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The CDC is working out the "logistical and legal" details of a plan to monitor the spread of Covid-19 by testing wastewater from international flights, according to CNN. The agency already monitors Covid-19 levels from wastewater tested at treatment plants around the U.S.
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Describing TikTok as a tool for China to spy on Americans, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill to ban the social video app. If the ban isn't strongly enforced, it's easy to imagine many of its estimated 94 million users in the U.S. would find a way around it. Students at the University of Texas at Austin simply switch their phone from the school's Wi-Fi network, which blocks TikTok, to their 5G service.
Now might be the time to invest in VPNs.
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Justin Bieber has sold his share of the rights to his music to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a reported $200million.
The firm now owns the pop star's stake in 290 songs, some of the biggest hits of recent years, including Baby and Sorry. That includes all of his music released before 31 December 2021.
Bieber, one of the best-selling artists of the 21st Century, joins a growing group of artists who have cashed out on their catalogs.
Hipgnosis has not disclosed the terms of the deal, but a source told the news agency AFP it was worth around $200m.
Artists are increasingly selling stakes in their work to music funds, although the trend is more common among older artists. In the last two years, music legends Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen both sold back catalog rights to Sony.
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The question is...what time is it on the moon?
“We’re just starting to lay this out,” says Cheryl Gramling, an aerospace engineer who leads the position, navigation and timing team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Moon doesn’t currently have an independent time. Each lunar mission uses its own timescale that is linked, through its handlers on Earth, to coordinated universal time, or UTC — the standard against which the planet’s clocks are set.
The most pressing need for lunar time comes from plans to create a dedicated global satellite navigation system (GNSS) for the Moon, similar to how GPS and other satellite navigation networks enable precise location tracking on Earth.
Defining lunar time is not simple. Although the definition of the second is the same everywhere, the special theory of relativity dictates that clocks tick slower in stronger gravitational fields. The Moon’s gravitational pull is weaker than Earth’s, meaning that, to an observer on Earth, a lunar clock would run faster than an Earth one.
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We've seen it in movies when AI takes over. Think Terminator. In the world of artificial intelligence, the idea of “singularity” looms large. This slippery concept describes the moment AI exceeds beyond human control and rapidly transforms society.
One of the tools that researchers are using is language. It's one of the most difficult things for AI.
And to boil the article down..it could reach a match by the end of the decade..just 7 years from now.
Be nice to the electronics!!!!!!!
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The Golden Raspberry Award nominees were announced this week. As opposed to the Oscars, this is for the worst movies and actors. "Blonde" leads the pack with eight nods, including Worst Picture.
In second with SEVEN nods is "Good Mourning", a movie written, directed, and starring Machine Gun Kelly and Mod Sun. Tom Hanks got THREE nominations for TWO different movies, "Pinocchio" and "Elvis".
Other Worst Picture nominees "The King's Daughter" and "Morbius."
And the Razzies stirred up a little more controversy than usual this year, by nominating 12-year-old actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, from the "Firestarter" remake.
AND.....to clear up that controversy, they apologized and her name has been removed from the ballot and from now on anyone under 18 will not be eligible.
Quote, "We have never intended to bury anyone's career. It is why our Redeemer Award was created.
"We all make mistakes, very much us included. Since our motto is 'Own Your Bad,' we realize that we ourselves must also live up to it."
You can see the Nomination Video here.
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Neil Patrick Harris made a cameo in the season two premiere of "How I Met Your Father" as Barney . . . his "How I Met Your Mother" character.
The showrunners said the cameo was just a tease and there's plenty more coming. Quote, "By the time his appearance on our show is over, people will feel really satisfied by what they've seen."
They also said they've discussed plot lines for all the original characters. If you remember in the Season 1 finale, there was a cameo from Cobie Smulders, who played Robin.
Hilary Duff stars in the show on Hulu.
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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - William Howard Taft is the only president who went on to serve on the Supreme Court. He was picked for the court eight years after being president.
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