The Useless Facts Thread

[neorichieb1971]

The corona of the sun is said to measure up to 2.5million degrees. Which is a lot hotter than the surface of the sun which is only 5500 degrees C. Scientists are still baffled why it works so illogically. The temperature rises in a space of 50 miles only though.

Perhaps like a flame, it is hotter where it emits its heat. Rather than what it is burning.

[Stormwatch]

Pop rock singer James Blunt prevented World War III. Seriously.

[drauch]

DID YOU KNOW

That Taco Bell's "meat" is actually just one grade above dog food? tasty.

[Stormwatch]

The startup chime for the Dreamcast was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Canadian version of PepsiCo's famed Mountain Dew soda drink is, indeed, caffiene-free whereas the American version of MD soda adds 55% caffiene.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

How can area 51 be on google earth if you get shot down within 50 clicks of that place?

[Vyxx]

How can area 51 be on google earth if you get shot down within 50 clicks of that place?

Satellites???

[neorichieb1971]

Google doesn't work like that apparently. Its a plane taking aerial photos.

[Ed Oscuro]

Maybe they're 51 "klicks" away from Area 51 to take the photos?

By the way, klicks is kilometers, and while I've seen pictures of the signs, they didn't seem to restrict space around by that much.

But this might be of use:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/space/ ... rea-51.htm

[neorichieb1971]

Since its new year.

What is the significance of the position of the Earth in relation to the sun at 00:00 new years midnight?

Someone must have said "its best to have it here!" and for what reason?


I just noticed on google that Monday 3rd of January the Earth is closest to the sun. Which begs another question of why isn't it bloody hot on that day in England.

[Stormwatch]

The first in-flight movie was screened on board an Air France Lockheed Constellation in 1951 flying the New York to Paris route.

[cools]

Since its new year.

What is the significance of the position of the Earth in relation to the sun at 00:00 new years midnight?

Someone must have said "its best to have it here!" and for what reason?

http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2007/ ... anuary.htm

I just noticed on google that Monday 3rd of January the Earth is closest to the sun. Which begs another question of why isn't it bloody hot on that day in England.

The axial tilt of the earth.

[neorichieb1971]

You know how we are all supposed to live longer due to science/biology and technology! Well, that had me wondering if we look younger at 40 now, than humans did 50 or 60 years ago. Since I'm turning 40 this year

[beyonder]

The Andromeda galaxy is moving towards the Milky Way, on a collision course. It will reach us in 4.5 bilion years.

[ED-057]

Under WinXP, holding down the shift key for ~7 seconds brings up a dialog box related to an accessibility feature called sticky keys. Sadly there are bugs, sometimes causing it to lock the shift key on even if you press cancel, and causing the dialog box to continue to appear even when it is disabled in the control panel. Google didn`t turn up an answer on how to really disable this potential annoyance, only regurgitated non-solutions. I discovered that by removing the file sethc.exe, the sticky keys dialog box won`t appear anymore.

[neorichieb1971]

Windows key + E brings up explorer. I teach that to everyone.

[Stormwatch]

Windows key + E brings up explorer.

...IF you are using Windows, that's a very important thing to note. Here, for example, it brought up this:



A more important thing to teach is that Windows is not the only OS out there.

Also, this news just in: Generalíssimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

[Ruldra]

I'm hungry.

[Stormwatch]

Nonono, it sounds more badass if you say it like this...



"I hunger!"

[EinhanderZwei]

The 'Games' icon on my cellphone (Motorola L6) remotely resembles Atari 2600 controller (button in the corner)

[Stormwatch]

Dan Gorlin, creator of classic computer game Choplifter, now works as a West African dance-drumming teacher.

[Stormwatch]

Shigesato Itoi, creator of the Mother series (aka Earthbound), absolutely loves Parker Brothers' board game Monopoly; in fact, he is head of the Japanese Monopoly Association.

[Sumez]

Windows key + E brings up explorer.

...IF you are using Windows, that's a very important thing to note. Here, for example, it brought up this:



A more important thing to teach is that Windows is not the only OS out there.

Also, this news just in: Generalíssimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

That explains why it doesn't work on my Dreamcast...

Windowskey+R is probably the single most important keyboard shortcut in Windows though.

[EinhanderZwei]

Windowskey+R is probably the single most important keyboard shortcut in Windows though.

Don't laugh... it's the only wsay I ever launch Internet Explorer 'iexplore google.com' is like a sacred spell

BTW, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead

[Zeron]

Don't laugh... it's the only wsay I ever launch Internet Explorer 'iexplore google.com' is like a sacred spell

BTW, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead

Benito Mussolini is still alive and kicking though

[Stormwatch]

Peter Rowen, the cute kid who appeared in the cover art for U2's albums Boy and War, is now a professional, award-winning photographer. He still keeps in touch with the band and occasionally goes to their concerts to rock out and take some darn cool pics.



His favorite theme, however, is motorcycle racing.

[Sumez]

That explains why it doesn't work on my Dreamcast...

And I just remembered DC actually runs on a Windows OS... complete fail on my part >_>

[Stormwatch]

Actually, only a few Dreamcast games are WinCE-based.

[Stormwatch]

Quentin Tarantino was an uncredited writer for the universally panned box office bomb It's Pat.

[Stormwatch]

So-called "German chocolate cake" is not German at all: its name comes from the dark baking chocolate brand "Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate" – developed in 1852 by Sam German (an Englishman) for Baker's Chocolate Company (American). The cake itself is of uncertain origin, but it became hugely popular after a texan housewife sent the recipe to a newspaper in 1957. The correct name, in fact, is "German's chocolate cake", but the possessive was dropped in later reprints of the recipe.

For an actual German chocolate cake, look into the Black Forest cake. As they call it, the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (literally, "Black Forest cherry torte"). It is named after Black Forest, which is not a forest, but a thickly forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. And actually, it is not named after the range itself, but after Schwarzwälder Kirschwasser, that region's traditional tart cherry liquor, that gives the cake a peculiar taste.

In Germany, it is illegal to sell a cake as a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte if it does not contain Kirschwasser. Elsewhere, other liquors often replace it. In the USA, peculiarly, the Black Forest cake is usually prepared without alcohol. Go figure.