Friday 12/22/23
Celebrate:
Abilities Day
National Cookie Exchange Day
National Date Nut Bread Day
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Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount in talks for potential global merger; the combined valuation of the two media giants is over $38B
Yes..it could mean Paramount+ and Max could merge to better rival Netflix and Disney+.
WBD could use its international distribution footprint to boost Paramount's franchises, while Paramount's children's programming assets could be essential to WBD's long-term streaming ambitions.
CBS News could be combined with CNN to create a global news powerhouse. CBS' crime dramas, such as "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds," could be combined with Investigation Discovery and TruTV.
CBS Sports' footprint could be combined with WBD's. For example, CBS and WBD's Turner Sports currently share TV rights for March Madness.
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John Oliver again reminded us on his show that the original Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain on January 1st.
This year we saw Winnie the Pooh and Sherlock Holmes enter the public domain...hence the horror movie with Pooh.
I"'m not sure how you can use this (the article I read was way confusing) but good luck avoiding the Disney lawyers if you stray away from the 1928 Mickey.
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Reindeer and caribou are the same animal (Rangifer tarandus) and are a member of the deer family. In Europe, they are called reindeer. In North America, the animals are called caribou if they are wild and reindeer if they are domesticated.
Both male and female reindeer grow antlers, while in most other deer species, only the males have antlers.
Unlike horns which are never shed, antlers fall off and grow back larger each year. Male reindeer begin to grow antlers in February and female reindeer in May. Both sexes finish growing their antlers at the same time but shed them at different times of the year. Typically, males drop their antlers in the late fall, leaving them without antlers until the following spring, while females keep their antlers through the winter until their calves are born in the spring. (So Santas Reindeer are Female...hmm we need to fix names then.)
Also, Reindeer's eyes change color to blue in the winter months. Researchers think it may help them see better in the peak of winter when snowfall is heavy, it also allows their eyes to transmit ultraviolet light. Which would help them find their favorite food in the snow.
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Triple-A released a new study, which found that there are SIX types of drivers, and over half are UNSAFE. Here they are . . . which one are YOU?
With the holidays here (and really every day) the worst is Impaired drivers, 1%. These are people who admit to driving after drinking alcohol or using marijuana. Triple-A says rural drivers were far more likely to cop to driving impaired.
Safe drivers, 41%. The survey asked people about various risky and dangerous driving behaviors, laws, and rules of the road. And they also had drivers self-report their behaviors behind the wheel.
This group had a good understanding of what's safe and what's not, and rarely engaged in bad behavior. Women were more likely to be in this group than men.
Speeding drivers, 23%. These are people who admit to regularly speeding . . . about 15 miles-per-hour over the speed limit on highways . . . and about 10 over on residential streets. But otherwise consider themselves good drivers.
Distracted drivers, 15%. These are people who admit to using their cell phones when driving, particularly texting and emailing.
Distracted and aggressive drivers, 17%. These are drivers who admit to messing around on their phones AND driving recklessly . . . like speeding, running red lights, tailgating, and darting in-and-out of lanes quickly.
The "most dangerous drivers," 2%. These drivers admit to MANY risky behaviors, and didn't seem to comprehend the dangers associated with them.
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A new study at the University of Texas and University of Oregon found that if you want to stay on task, you should try breaking things up and setting more GOALS.
Researchers had people take tests to measure their reaction time. Each series of tests lasted 25 minutes, and the tasks got harder as they went.
When people were just told to do them as fast as possible, their reaction time started to get worse as time went on. However, setting goals for each task helped.
They'd tell people to see if they could react to each thing within different amounts of time, like half a second or a third of a second. And when they set specific goals like that, people were able to focus for a lot longer.
They didn't get into how you might be able to use that information at any specific job. They said it just shows that in general . . . whether you're working or studying . . . setting small, specific goals can help you stay focused longer.
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Today’s Useless Fact of the Day - Canada debuted the first Christmas postage stamp in 1898. America was VERY late to the game. The first U.S. Christmas stamp was issued in 1962 and featured a candle and wreaths in green and red.
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