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August 9, 2022
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 9, 2022
riposte \rih-POHST\ noun
What It Means
A riposte is a clever retort or retaliatory measure. In fencing, it refers specifi...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 9, 2022
riposte \rih-POHST\ noun
What It Means
A riposte is a clever retort or retaliatory measure. In fencing, it refers specifi...
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It’s a tad bit danceable for a breakup song, but that sure didn’t stop ABBA’s The Winner Takes It All from topping the UK Singles Chart on this day in 1980. In fact, the power ballad became their eighth number one single in the UK. The song’s swelling vocals and heavy keyboard made it quite an attention-grabber. Meanwhile, its dramatic lyrics about a bitter divorce seemed to be born right out of real-life drama: it was written by ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus during his divorce from bandmate Agnetha Fältskog. Although Ulvaeus insisted that the lyrics shouldn’t be taken literally since there were no “winners” in his divorce, he did admit that his own despair inspired the song. For her part, Fältskog jumped fully on board with The Winner Takes It All, singing lead on the track and starring in its music video, which was filmed just ten days after her divorce from Ulvaeus was finalized. You’ve got to wonder how Ulvaeus felt singing backup on this one.
[Image description: Wax figures of ABBA’s four members from the ABBA Museum, wearing their famous costumes in front of a blue background.] Credit & copyright: Graham C99 (schnappi), Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size, image used under license linked here.
It’s a tad bit danceable for a breakup song, but that sure didn’t stop ABBA’s The Winner Takes It All from topping the UK Singles Chart on this day in 1980. In fact, the power ballad became their eighth number one single in the UK. The song’s swelling vocals and heavy keyboard made it quite an attention-grabber. Meanwhile, its dramatic lyrics about a bitter divorce seemed to be born right out of real-life drama: it was written by ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus during his divorce from bandmate Agnetha Fältskog. Although Ulvaeus insisted that the lyrics shouldn’t be taken literally since there were no “winners” in his divorce, he did admit that his own despair inspired the song. For her part, Fältskog jumped fully on board with The Winner Takes It All, singing lead on the track and starring in its music video, which was filmed just ten days after her divorce from Ulvaeus was finalized. You’ve got to wonder how Ulvaeus felt singing backup on this one.
[Image description: Wax figures of ABBA’s four members from the ABBA Museum, wearing their famous costumes in front of a blue background.] Credit & copyright: Graham C99 (schnappi), Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size, image used under license linked here.
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FREELiterature Daily Curio #2492Free1 CQ
Henry David Thoreau: transcendentalist philosopher, writer, and rugged individualist. Well, maybe not that last one, but he never claimed to be. Walden; or, Life in the Woods was published on this day in 1854, and the tale of Thoreau’s time spent in a woodland cabin still resonates with readers today. Yet as popular as the book is, a mischaracterization of Thoreau seems to have stuck around: namely, the idea that he was a hermit roughing it out in the wilderness on his own. The fact is, Thoreau wasn’t really a loner, and that he didn’t even try to hide it. Walden Pond wasn’t geographically isolated, being located near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau even mentions that he made regular trips into town on foot. The property was owned by his mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, and when Thoreau finally left Walden Pond after just two years, it was at Emerson’s invitation to stay with his family while he went to Europe.
While at Walden, Thoreau wrote about how his mother brought him food and helped with his laundry, and how he would often entertain visitors at his cabin. So why does the myth of Thoreau as a loner persist? It’s hard to say. It could be that the title of the book gave people the impression that the author was deep in a forest, cut off from civilization. Alternatively, it could be that philosophers like Thoreau are portrayed as misunderstood geniuses rejected by society. While that’s a romantic notion, the truth is that Thoreau was always very well-integrated with society at large. We’ve written before about how he ran his family’s pencil-manufacturing business, taking it over entirely after his father’s death. And while he never married or had any children, he had many friends who held him in high esteem, leading his funeral to be a crowded affair. Thoreau’s most controversial ideas actually revolved around his condemnation of slavery, but abolitionists were growing in number in the 1800s, and being in the North, he was by no means alone in his beliefs. Ultimately, Thoreau’s mythologized portrayal might have more to do with what his readers wanted him to be, rather than what he was. Or maybe a lot of college students never got around to doing the assigned reading, and wrote their essays based purely on Walden’s title.
[Image description: Henry David Thoreau] Credit & copyright:
B. D. Maxham, National Portrait Gallery, Wikimedia Commons, Image cropped for size, Public DomainHenry David Thoreau: transcendentalist philosopher, writer, and rugged individualist. Well, maybe not that last one, but he never claimed to be. Walden; or, Life in the Woods was published on this day in 1854, and the tale of Thoreau’s time spent in a woodland cabin still resonates with readers today. Yet as popular as the book is, a mischaracterization of Thoreau seems to have stuck around: namely, the idea that he was a hermit roughing it out in the wilderness on his own. The fact is, Thoreau wasn’t really a loner, and that he didn’t even try to hide it. Walden Pond wasn’t geographically isolated, being located near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau even mentions that he made regular trips into town on foot. The property was owned by his mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, and when Thoreau finally left Walden Pond after just two years, it was at Emerson’s invitation to stay with his family while he went to Europe.
While at Walden, Thoreau wrote about how his mother brought him food and helped with his laundry, and how he would often entertain visitors at his cabin. So why does the myth of Thoreau as a loner persist? It’s hard to say. It could be that the title of the book gave people the impression that the author was deep in a forest, cut off from civilization. Alternatively, it could be that philosophers like Thoreau are portrayed as misunderstood geniuses rejected by society. While that’s a romantic notion, the truth is that Thoreau was always very well-integrated with society at large. We’ve written before about how he ran his family’s pencil-manufacturing business, taking it over entirely after his father’s death. And while he never married or had any children, he had many friends who held him in high esteem, leading his funeral to be a crowded affair. Thoreau’s most controversial ideas actually revolved around his condemnation of slavery, but abolitionists were growing in number in the 1800s, and being in the North, he was by no means alone in his beliefs. Ultimately, Thoreau’s mythologized portrayal might have more to do with what his readers wanted him to be, rather than what he was. Or maybe a lot of college students never got around to doing the assigned reading, and wrote their essays based purely on Walden’s title.
[Image description: Henry David Thoreau] Credit & copyright:
B. D. Maxham, National Portrait Gallery, Wikimedia Commons, Image cropped for size, Public Domain
August 8, 2022
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 8, 2022
crepuscular \krih-PUHSS-kyuh-ler\ adjective
What It Means
Crepuscular means "of, relating to, or resembling twilight." It...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 8, 2022
crepuscular \krih-PUHSS-kyuh-ler\ adjective
What It Means
Crepuscular means "of, relating to, or resembling twilight." It...
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ JOLTS report is out, and it indicates that the labor market may be in the early stages of cooling off. We talk about what the...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ JOLTS report is out, and it indicates that the labor market may be in the early stages of cooling off. We talk about what the...
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Nature is sometimes as strange as it is beautiful. American artist William Thon's Pine Trees shows a group of trees in ink and watercolor. The trees spread out their spindly limbs against a white and gray backdrop interspersed with dramatic smudges of bright yellow light and dark shadows. Splotched ink in the lower foreground hints at vegetation. Thon was mostly self-taught, with brief stints at the Art Students League and the American Academy of Rome. Although he started doing oil paintings in a realistic style, he developed his own unique sensibilities as he experimented with watercolors. In between his art studies, he also worked as a designer of window displays and even tried his hand at treasure hunting before eventually settling down in Maine to paint its coastal and forest landscapes. Even “conventional” artists don’t always stick to convention.
Pine Trees, William Thon (1906-2000), 1955, Watercolor and ink on paper, 22.125 x 30 in. (56.3 x 76.3 cm),Smithsonian American Art Museum
Below: Another of Thon’s paintings, Twilight in Rome.
Nature is sometimes as strange as it is beautiful. American artist William Thon's Pine Trees shows a group of trees in ink and watercolor. The trees spread out their spindly limbs against a white and gray backdrop interspersed with dramatic smudges of bright yellow light and dark shadows. Splotched ink in the lower foreground hints at vegetation. Thon was mostly self-taught, with brief stints at the Art Students League and the American Academy of Rome. Although he started doing oil paintings in a realistic style, he developed his own unique sensibilities as he experimented with watercolors. In between his art studies, he also worked as a designer of window displays and even tried his hand at treasure hunting before eventually settling down in Maine to paint its coastal and forest landscapes. Even “conventional” artists don’t always stick to convention.
Pine Trees, William Thon (1906-2000), 1955, Watercolor and ink on paper, 22.125 x 30 in. (56.3 x 76.3 cm),Smithsonian American Art Museum
Below: Another of Thon’s paintings, Twilight in Rome.
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FREEWorld History Daily Curio #2491Free1 CQ
You might need a COVID booster shot soon, but at least no one is trying to convince you to eat human flesh to maintain your health. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, you likely wouldn’t have been so lucky. For centuries, the mummified remains of ancient Egyptians and other cadavers were a preferred cure-all. People with aches and pains could venture to the apothecary for some ground up skull. For frequent headaches, physicians would sometimes prescribe a course of mumia, a medicine made from ground up mummies. But some ailments were thought to require something a little fresher. If a patient were suspected of having a blood disease weakening their body, they might be given fresh human blood, sometimes straight from the donor.
One would think that eating human flesh would be taboo in Europe, so how did consuming mummies catch on? Medicinal cannibalism was popular throughout Europe largely due to the belief that “like cures like.” If something was wrong with a person’s body, Europeans believed that the vital essence of another body could cure it. The practice goes as far back as the time of ancient Rome, when it was believed that the blood of a slain gladiator contained his essence, and could heal or revitalize those who consumed it. There were skeptics, of course, but the practice was popular enough and mummies in high enough demand that entire industries were formed to create mummy forgeries. These fake mummies were usually made from the bodies of executed convicts, while the executions themselves were a reliable source of fresh blood for those who lacked money to purchase medicine. In fact, the last case of a witness attempting to gather blood from a recent execution occurred in Germany in 1908. Medicinal cannibalism largely fell out of fashion around the 18th century, but the use of human remains lingered in the fringes of medicine and beyond for a while after. We’ll just stick to ibuprofen, thanks!
[Image description: A brown ovular box with the inscription "MUMIÆ" and inventory number 218. From the pharmacists collection of Museums für Hamburgische Geschichte in Germany. ] Credit & copyright: Christoph Braun, Wikimedia Commons, Public DomainYou might need a COVID booster shot soon, but at least no one is trying to convince you to eat human flesh to maintain your health. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, you likely wouldn’t have been so lucky. For centuries, the mummified remains of ancient Egyptians and other cadavers were a preferred cure-all. People with aches and pains could venture to the apothecary for some ground up skull. For frequent headaches, physicians would sometimes prescribe a course of mumia, a medicine made from ground up mummies. But some ailments were thought to require something a little fresher. If a patient were suspected of having a blood disease weakening their body, they might be given fresh human blood, sometimes straight from the donor.
One would think that eating human flesh would be taboo in Europe, so how did consuming mummies catch on? Medicinal cannibalism was popular throughout Europe largely due to the belief that “like cures like.” If something was wrong with a person’s body, Europeans believed that the vital essence of another body could cure it. The practice goes as far back as the time of ancient Rome, when it was believed that the blood of a slain gladiator contained his essence, and could heal or revitalize those who consumed it. There were skeptics, of course, but the practice was popular enough and mummies in high enough demand that entire industries were formed to create mummy forgeries. These fake mummies were usually made from the bodies of executed convicts, while the executions themselves were a reliable source of fresh blood for those who lacked money to purchase medicine. In fact, the last case of a witness attempting to gather blood from a recent execution occurred in Germany in 1908. Medicinal cannibalism largely fell out of fashion around the 18th century, but the use of human remains lingered in the fringes of medicine and beyond for a while after. We’ll just stick to ibuprofen, thanks!
[Image description: A brown ovular box with the inscription "MUMIÆ" and inventory number 218. From the pharmacists collection of Museums für Hamburgische Geschichte in Germany. ] Credit & copyright: Christoph Braun, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
August 7, 2022
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 7, 2022
eminently \EM-uh-nunt-lee\ adverb
What It Means
Eminently is used as a synonym of very and means “to a high degree.”
// ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 7, 2022
eminently \EM-uh-nunt-lee\ adverb
What It Means
Eminently is used as a synonym of very and means “to a high degree.”
// ...
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The CHIPS and Science Act puts aside tens of billions of dollars in funding for the National Science Foundation, the nation’s government research agency. We ...
The CHIPS and Science Act puts aside tens of billions of dollars in funding for the National Science Foundation, the nation’s government research agency. We ...
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FREEHumanities PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
This summer, don’t hit the rapids without your jacket! For such a simple device, the life jacket or personal floatation device (PFD) has an impressive record of saving lives. Yet, when one tries to pinpoint an exact inventor, patent, or even invention-date for life jackets, the waters get a bit murky. That’s partly because humans have been using floatation devices for as long as we’ve relied on water—in other words, since before recorded history. The first PFD’s weren’t jackets, but rather inflated animal skins or bladders that fishermen held onto while wading in streams, lakes, or the ocean. Such devices were used by many cultures all over the world. In coastal European countries like Norway, fishermen would sometimes tie blocks of buoyant wood or cork to their arms while working.
The beginnings of the modern life jacket date back to the early 19th century. In 1802, Abraham Bosquet, of the British Royal Navy, wrote a letter to his superiors suggesting that ships be outfitted with canvas jackets filled with cork shavings. A life jacket made from cork was even made available for sale to the general public in 1804, in the popular British periodical The Sporting Magazine. A company called Bather’s soon began producing a popular model of life jacket known as the “Companion” made from cork sheets. But the need for life jackets didn’t become widely apparent until the 1850s, when metal boats began replacing their wooden predecessors. After all, when metal ships sank, their wreckage didn’t provide much floating debris for sailors to cling to until help arrived.
Even though life jackets existed before his time, many people credit the invention of the modern life jacket, which fits over the head and is strapped around the chest, to Vice Admiral John Ross Ward of the Royal Navy. When he was just a Captain, Ward served as the Inspector of Lifeboats at the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Knowing how dangerous it was for rescue crews to work from lifeboats in choppy seas, Ward created a life vest in 1854 with a shape we would recognize today, though it was made from cork.
By the early 1900s, kapok, a lightweight fiber made from the fruit of the kapok tree, had replaced cork as the go-to material for life jackets. Soft jackets filled with kapok were more comfortable than cork and easier to put on. As naval battles broke out in World War I, militaries sought to improve their life jackets’ designs. Realizing the importance of life jackets to war-time success, many militaries continued making improvements even after the war ended, in 1918. In 1928, another supposed life jacket inventor took center stage: American merchant and fishing enthusiast Peter Markus. Markus knew that most fishermen refused to wear cork or even kapok life jackets because of how bulky they were. So, he decided to work with a naturally buoyant substance that had no bulk at all—air. In 1928, Markus patented his first design for an inflatable life jacket. It was made from rubberized cloth and could be inflated via two cords attached to cartridges of carbon dioxide. When the cords were pulled, the vest inflated within moments, making it particularly useful in emergency situations. The jackets were also easy to store when deflated. When World War II broke out in 1939, the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force distributed Markus’s life jackets to servicemen. Among soldiers, the jackets earned the raunchy nickname “Mae West” because they supposedly mimicked the Hollywood actress’s curves when inflated.
Inflatable life jackets are still used today, most notably on commercial airplanes in case of emergency, but most modern life jackets use plastic foam to float. Thermoplastic Polyurethane is one of the most common foams used today, and is usually covered by a vest made from nylon or polyester. Life jackets are usually bright orange or yellow, allowing them to be spotted from long distances, and many even include strips of reflective material for night time use. Their only drawback? Modern foam jackets definitely won’t help you look like Mae West.
[Image description: Yellow-and-orange life jackets hang from hooks at a beach, with people in the background.] Credit & copyright: distelAPPArath, PixabayThis summer, don’t hit the rapids without your jacket! For such a simple device, the life jacket or personal floatation device (PFD) has an impressive record of saving lives. Yet, when one tries to pinpoint an exact inventor, patent, or even invention-date for life jackets, the waters get a bit murky. That’s partly because humans have been using floatation devices for as long as we’ve relied on water—in other words, since before recorded history. The first PFD’s weren’t jackets, but rather inflated animal skins or bladders that fishermen held onto while wading in streams, lakes, or the ocean. Such devices were used by many cultures all over the world. In coastal European countries like Norway, fishermen would sometimes tie blocks of buoyant wood or cork to their arms while working.
The beginnings of the modern life jacket date back to the early 19th century. In 1802, Abraham Bosquet, of the British Royal Navy, wrote a letter to his superiors suggesting that ships be outfitted with canvas jackets filled with cork shavings. A life jacket made from cork was even made available for sale to the general public in 1804, in the popular British periodical The Sporting Magazine. A company called Bather’s soon began producing a popular model of life jacket known as the “Companion” made from cork sheets. But the need for life jackets didn’t become widely apparent until the 1850s, when metal boats began replacing their wooden predecessors. After all, when metal ships sank, their wreckage didn’t provide much floating debris for sailors to cling to until help arrived.
Even though life jackets existed before his time, many people credit the invention of the modern life jacket, which fits over the head and is strapped around the chest, to Vice Admiral John Ross Ward of the Royal Navy. When he was just a Captain, Ward served as the Inspector of Lifeboats at the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Knowing how dangerous it was for rescue crews to work from lifeboats in choppy seas, Ward created a life vest in 1854 with a shape we would recognize today, though it was made from cork.
By the early 1900s, kapok, a lightweight fiber made from the fruit of the kapok tree, had replaced cork as the go-to material for life jackets. Soft jackets filled with kapok were more comfortable than cork and easier to put on. As naval battles broke out in World War I, militaries sought to improve their life jackets’ designs. Realizing the importance of life jackets to war-time success, many militaries continued making improvements even after the war ended, in 1918. In 1928, another supposed life jacket inventor took center stage: American merchant and fishing enthusiast Peter Markus. Markus knew that most fishermen refused to wear cork or even kapok life jackets because of how bulky they were. So, he decided to work with a naturally buoyant substance that had no bulk at all—air. In 1928, Markus patented his first design for an inflatable life jacket. It was made from rubberized cloth and could be inflated via two cords attached to cartridges of carbon dioxide. When the cords were pulled, the vest inflated within moments, making it particularly useful in emergency situations. The jackets were also easy to store when deflated. When World War II broke out in 1939, the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force distributed Markus’s life jackets to servicemen. Among soldiers, the jackets earned the raunchy nickname “Mae West” because they supposedly mimicked the Hollywood actress’s curves when inflated.
Inflatable life jackets are still used today, most notably on commercial airplanes in case of emergency, but most modern life jackets use plastic foam to float. Thermoplastic Polyurethane is one of the most common foams used today, and is usually covered by a vest made from nylon or polyester. Life jackets are usually bright orange or yellow, allowing them to be spotted from long distances, and many even include strips of reflective material for night time use. Their only drawback? Modern foam jackets definitely won’t help you look like Mae West.
[Image description: Yellow-and-orange life jackets hang from hooks at a beach, with people in the background.] Credit & copyright: distelAPPArath, Pixabay
August 6, 2022
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9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs in July, according to the latest jobs report, far outpacing expectations. We dig into what that means amid high inflation...
The U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs in July, according to the latest jobs report, far outpacing expectations. We dig into what that means amid high inflation...
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FREEBasketball Daily CurioFree1 CQ
If legends never die, this man will live on forever. 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell recently passed away at the age of 88. After joining the Boston Celtics in the 1956 NBA Draft, he went on to become one of basketball’s greatests during his 13 years with the team. While playing for the Celtics, Russell led the team to the NBA Finals 12 times, winning 11 of them—8 of them consecutively, a record that stands to this day. Beyond the court, Russell was active in the Civil Rights movement, and was present during Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1961, Russell, along with other Black players from the Celtics and the St. Louis Hawks, boycotted an exhibition match in Lexington, Kentucky after fellow players were denied service at a local diner due to their race. Then, in 1966, Russell made history by becoming the first Black head coach in sports while still playing for the Celtics for two seasons. After leaving the Celtics, he pursued a career in broadcasting and remained a vocal advocate for racial equality. In 2009, he was honored by the NBA when they renamed the Finals MVP award after him. The next year, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama for his activism. Few other athletes leave such a legacy both on and off the court.
[Image description: NBA player Bill Russell dribbles a basketball in front of a green background, wearing his white-and-green Celtics uniform.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
If legends never die, this man will live on forever. 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell recently passed away at the age of 88. After joining the Boston Celtics in the 1956 NBA Draft, he went on to become one of basketball’s greatests during his 13 years with the team. While playing for the Celtics, Russell led the team to the NBA Finals 12 times, winning 11 of them—8 of them consecutively, a record that stands to this day. Beyond the court, Russell was active in the Civil Rights movement, and was present during Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1961, Russell, along with other Black players from the Celtics and the St. Louis Hawks, boycotted an exhibition match in Lexington, Kentucky after fellow players were denied service at a local diner due to their race. Then, in 1966, Russell made history by becoming the first Black head coach in sports while still playing for the Celtics for two seasons. After leaving the Celtics, he pursued a career in broadcasting and remained a vocal advocate for racial equality. In 2009, he was honored by the NBA when they renamed the Finals MVP award after him. The next year, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama for his activism. Few other athletes leave such a legacy both on and off the court.
[Image description: NBA player Bill Russell dribbles a basketball in front of a green background, wearing his white-and-green Celtics uniform.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
August 5, 2022
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
From the BBC World Service: The Chinese Foreign Ministry described Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as an “egregious provocation” and that it ignored China’s...
From the BBC World Service: The Chinese Foreign Ministry described Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as an “egregious provocation” and that it ignored China’s...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 5, 2022
heartstring \HAHRT-string\ noun
What It Means
Heartstring is used, usually in the plural, to refer to someone's deepest e...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 5, 2022
heartstring \HAHRT-string\ noun
What It Means
Heartstring is used, usually in the plural, to refer to someone's deepest e...
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FREEComposition Photo CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business. We've heard of taking a boat out fishing before, but these lobster farmers are next level. Lobster Farm by photographer Pham Huy Trung, a finalist in the 2018 Drone Awards, shows lobster fishing off of the Hòn Yến coast in Phú Yên Province, Vietnam. Out of thousands of submissions each year, the prize showcases some of the best aerial and drone photos around the world. Aerial photography has been around at least since the 1860s when James Wallace Black photographed Boston from a 2,000-foot elevation. Getting a direct overhead shot like Trung's flattens vertical dimensions and allowing for bright colors and textures, like those of the neon netting and baskets in the deep blue water, to really pop. What does the future hold for drone photography? We're not sure, but we bet drones will keep mapping places in unimaginable ways!
Below: more past winners from the Drone Awards, including When the muddy river meets the ocean by Joao Galamba, Bear and Salmon by Roie Galitz, and Sidewalk by Guilherme Pupo.
Image credit & copyright: Pham Huy Trung, Joao Galamba, Roie Galitz, Guilherme Pupo, Drone Awards
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business. We've heard of taking a boat out fishing before, but these lobster farmers are next level. Lobster Farm by photographer Pham Huy Trung, a finalist in the 2018 Drone Awards, shows lobster fishing off of the Hòn Yến coast in Phú Yên Province, Vietnam. Out of thousands of submissions each year, the prize showcases some of the best aerial and drone photos around the world. Aerial photography has been around at least since the 1860s when James Wallace Black photographed Boston from a 2,000-foot elevation. Getting a direct overhead shot like Trung's flattens vertical dimensions and allowing for bright colors and textures, like those of the neon netting and baskets in the deep blue water, to really pop. What does the future hold for drone photography? We're not sure, but we bet drones will keep mapping places in unimaginable ways!
Below: more past winners from the Drone Awards, including When the muddy river meets the ocean by Joao Galamba, Bear and Salmon by Roie Galitz, and Sidewalk by Guilherme Pupo.
Image credit & copyright: Pham Huy Trung, Joao Galamba, Roie Galitz, Guilherme Pupo, Drone Awards
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business.
Waiting for the Shepherd
Eugenie Fish Glaman (1873-1956)
etching on paper
10 x 8 in. (25.3 x 20.3 cm)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Can sheep be muses? For American artist Eugenie Fish Glaman, born on this day in 1873, they certainly were! After growing up on her father's farm in Kansas, Glaman found herself unimpressed with other artists' (such as the Dutch painter Josef Israels) depiction of sheep, her favorite farm animals. Glaman thus set out to capture the fluffy flock. In Waiting for the Shepherd, a flock of around ten sheep stand loosely huddled inside a barn. Every visible sheep wears a unique expression—the one in the foreground seems wary, while those further back seem content, and one rests its head against the bar door. Glaman accomplished great detail through the medium of etching, in which ink is applied to a design on a carved metal plate, then pressed onto paper. At a time when women were not expected to be artists, and those that were were expected to adhere to certain "feminine" themes, Glaman's rugged depictions of farm life broke the mold. What baa-ter way to expand the scope of the art world?
Below: two more of Glaman's animal-focused works, Shearing Sheep and The Rest Hour.
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business.
Waiting for the Shepherd
Eugenie Fish Glaman (1873-1956)
etching on paper
10 x 8 in. (25.3 x 20.3 cm)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Can sheep be muses? For American artist Eugenie Fish Glaman, born on this day in 1873, they certainly were! After growing up on her father's farm in Kansas, Glaman found herself unimpressed with other artists' (such as the Dutch painter Josef Israels) depiction of sheep, her favorite farm animals. Glaman thus set out to capture the fluffy flock. In Waiting for the Shepherd, a flock of around ten sheep stand loosely huddled inside a barn. Every visible sheep wears a unique expression—the one in the foreground seems wary, while those further back seem content, and one rests its head against the bar door. Glaman accomplished great detail through the medium of etching, in which ink is applied to a design on a carved metal plate, then pressed onto paper. At a time when women were not expected to be artists, and those that were were expected to adhere to certain "feminine" themes, Glaman's rugged depictions of farm life broke the mold. What baa-ter way to expand the scope of the art world?
Below: two more of Glaman's animal-focused works, Shearing Sheep and The Rest Hour.
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FREEWorld History PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business.
In 2016, the Baroque Valletta became the first commercial ship to pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal. The massive structure is 70 feet wider and 20 feet deeper than the original. Its successful test run heralded a new era of global shipping, and elicited 10,000 sighs of relief. Workers expected a disastrous failure, so much so that the Panamanian government and its consortium of contractors tried to keep the event a secret.
From the outset, everything about the expansion project seemed questionable: the managers, the plans, the location. Construction was initiated under President Ricardo Martinelli's administration, which was plagued by corruption. (Martinelli, whose term ended in 2014, is currently the target of an extradition request from Interpol for embezzlement and spying.) Stoking the flames of suspicion, the administration selected a plan $1 billion cheaper than other proposals. To top it all off, geologists had determined in late 2007 that fault lines in Panama were more earthquake-prone than previously thought, with some spots akin to San Francisco in their risk.
Not that previous canal projects went off without a hitch. The first attempt, by the French in the 1880s, to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via Panama failed miserably. After nearly a decade and 20,000 fatalities, France abandoned the idea. The Americans only focused on the Panama Canal after having their own failure in Nicaragua in the 1850s. And when Colombia, which owned the Isthmus of Panama at the time, refused to lease the land, President Teddy Roosevelt lent military support to a coup for Panamanian independence.
The original Panama Canal, which was finished in 1914, was overdue for an update—no matter how messy. With more major global players and improved nautical technology, the size and scope of goods being transferred had become too big for the century-old structure to handle. What was once a feat of modern engineering risked going the way of the Erie Canal, made obsolete by more current modes of transportation.
The expansion was supposed to be finished by 2014, to coincide with the centennial of the original Panama Canal's opening. But construction logistics, money squabbles, and complications from climate change delayed the project by two years. Plus, a major snafu in the design caused a huge leak in one of the locks that was captured on camera by a worker. Even now, after the Canal's completion, doubts remain about the strength and stability of the structure—and contractors are seeking $3.4 billion in payments, some of which may be in addition to the $5 billion cost that was estimated at the outset of the project.
Still, since the Baroque Valletta made its way through the new locks last year, the Canal has stayed open. And as long as British grocery stores want Ecuadorian bananas and American factories want minerals from Rwanda, we're guessing it's going to stay that way.
[Image description: Equipment and boats on the Panama Canal] Credit & copyright: neufal54, PixabayIt's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business.
In 2016, the Baroque Valletta became the first commercial ship to pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal. The massive structure is 70 feet wider and 20 feet deeper than the original. Its successful test run heralded a new era of global shipping, and elicited 10,000 sighs of relief. Workers expected a disastrous failure, so much so that the Panamanian government and its consortium of contractors tried to keep the event a secret.
From the outset, everything about the expansion project seemed questionable: the managers, the plans, the location. Construction was initiated under President Ricardo Martinelli's administration, which was plagued by corruption. (Martinelli, whose term ended in 2014, is currently the target of an extradition request from Interpol for embezzlement and spying.) Stoking the flames of suspicion, the administration selected a plan $1 billion cheaper than other proposals. To top it all off, geologists had determined in late 2007 that fault lines in Panama were more earthquake-prone than previously thought, with some spots akin to San Francisco in their risk.
Not that previous canal projects went off without a hitch. The first attempt, by the French in the 1880s, to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via Panama failed miserably. After nearly a decade and 20,000 fatalities, France abandoned the idea. The Americans only focused on the Panama Canal after having their own failure in Nicaragua in the 1850s. And when Colombia, which owned the Isthmus of Panama at the time, refused to lease the land, President Teddy Roosevelt lent military support to a coup for Panamanian independence.
The original Panama Canal, which was finished in 1914, was overdue for an update—no matter how messy. With more major global players and improved nautical technology, the size and scope of goods being transferred had become too big for the century-old structure to handle. What was once a feat of modern engineering risked going the way of the Erie Canal, made obsolete by more current modes of transportation.
The expansion was supposed to be finished by 2014, to coincide with the centennial of the original Panama Canal's opening. But construction logistics, money squabbles, and complications from climate change delayed the project by two years. Plus, a major snafu in the design caused a huge leak in one of the locks that was captured on camera by a worker. Even now, after the Canal's completion, doubts remain about the strength and stability of the structure—and contractors are seeking $3.4 billion in payments, some of which may be in addition to the $5 billion cost that was estimated at the outset of the project.
Still, since the Baroque Valletta made its way through the new locks last year, the Canal has stayed open. And as long as British grocery stores want Ecuadorian bananas and American factories want minerals from Rwanda, we're guessing it's going to stay that way.
[Image description: Equipment and boats on the Panama Canal] Credit & copyright: neufal54, Pixabay -
FREEWork Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business.
Apps are big business, and it seems there’s one for everything these days: looking up the weather, working out...farming. According to Thai startup Ricult, technology can be utilized even in professions which seem too traditional for it. The company has launched an app which they claim can produce higher crop yields and improve the lives of farmers in Thailand and Pakistan. It works by giving farmers data that can help them get the most out of each planting season. By analyzing weather patterns, the app tells farmers when they should begin planting and even gives advice about when to fertilize and harvest crops. There are also tools that allow farmers to keep records of their farms’ finances.
In an interview with CNBC, Ricult co-founder Aukrit Unahalekhaka explained, “In the past two years, we have worked a lot with the central banks and many research institutions. We have shown that our technology has increased the farmers’ income by at least 50%, as a baseline.” These results have helped Ricult build trust with farmers who aren’t used to employing technology in their work, and news of the app has spread by word of mouth. Today, around 400,000 farmers in Thailand have signed up for the app. Farmers pay no fee to download or use it. Instead, Ricult makes its income from software licensing and through commissions on transactions conducted through its software. The fact that the app is free makes it even more attractive to farmers, and Ricult is growing as a result. According to Unahalekhaka, the company should be profitable by next year. It goes to show that businesses can find opportunities to thrive in practically any field— even a literal one.
[Image description: A farmer works in a rice field in Thailand ] Credit & copyright: DEZALB, PixabayIt's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business.
Apps are big business, and it seems there’s one for everything these days: looking up the weather, working out...farming. According to Thai startup Ricult, technology can be utilized even in professions which seem too traditional for it. The company has launched an app which they claim can produce higher crop yields and improve the lives of farmers in Thailand and Pakistan. It works by giving farmers data that can help them get the most out of each planting season. By analyzing weather patterns, the app tells farmers when they should begin planting and even gives advice about when to fertilize and harvest crops. There are also tools that allow farmers to keep records of their farms’ finances.
In an interview with CNBC, Ricult co-founder Aukrit Unahalekhaka explained, “In the past two years, we have worked a lot with the central banks and many research institutions. We have shown that our technology has increased the farmers’ income by at least 50%, as a baseline.” These results have helped Ricult build trust with farmers who aren’t used to employing technology in their work, and news of the app has spread by word of mouth. Today, around 400,000 farmers in Thailand have signed up for the app. Farmers pay no fee to download or use it. Instead, Ricult makes its income from software licensing and through commissions on transactions conducted through its software. The fact that the app is free makes it even more attractive to farmers, and Ricult is growing as a result. According to Unahalekhaka, the company should be profitable by next year. It goes to show that businesses can find opportunities to thrive in practically any field— even a literal one.
[Image description: A farmer works in a rice field in Thailand ] Credit & copyright: DEZALB, Pixabay -
FREEWork Daily CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business. Starbucks isn't just a $15 billion coffee company and a global symbol of wealth. With more than 19,000 locations in 60+ countries, it's essentially a real estate company. So much so that it appears to create rising home prices in neighborhoods where it places stores. According to data collected between 1997 and 2014, U.S. homes within 1/4 mile of a Starbucks gained 96% in value. Properties not near a Starbucks gained 65% in value. And Starbucks seems to create these rising home values, rather that just following the gentrified masses. To determine this, the researchers studied the similar effect of Dunkin’ Donuts stores. Homes within 1/4 mile of a Dunkin’ Donuts only appreciated 80%, half way between the national average and the Starbucks neighborhoods. So either the placement of a Starbucks in a new neighborhood causes housing prices to rise; or the people at Starbucks corporate who determine the locations of their new stores can actually predict economic growth by neighborhood, unlike executives at Dunkin' Donuts. Actually, both seem pretty likely.
Credit & copyright: Pexels, PixabayIt's Flashback Friday! In honor of Work Like a Dog Day, enjoy these curios all about work and business. Starbucks isn't just a $15 billion coffee company and a global symbol of wealth. With more than 19,000 locations in 60+ countries, it's essentially a real estate company. So much so that it appears to create rising home prices in neighborhoods where it places stores. According to data collected between 1997 and 2014, U.S. homes within 1/4 mile of a Starbucks gained 96% in value. Properties not near a Starbucks gained 65% in value. And Starbucks seems to create these rising home values, rather that just following the gentrified masses. To determine this, the researchers studied the similar effect of Dunkin’ Donuts stores. Homes within 1/4 mile of a Dunkin’ Donuts only appreciated 80%, half way between the national average and the Starbucks neighborhoods. So either the placement of a Starbucks in a new neighborhood causes housing prices to rise; or the people at Starbucks corporate who determine the locations of their new stores can actually predict economic growth by neighborhood, unlike executives at Dunkin' Donuts. Actually, both seem pretty likely.
Credit & copyright: Pexels, Pixabay
August 4, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: We hear from the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, an organization with more than 500 member firms there. ...
From the BBC World Service: We hear from the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, an organization with more than 500 member firms there. ...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : August 4, 2022
brackish \BRACK-ish\ adjective
What It Means
Brackish is typically used to mean “somewhat salty,” and most often describe...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 4, 2022
brackish \BRACK-ish\ adjective
What It Means
Brackish is typically used to mean “somewhat salty,” and most often describe...
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FREEBiology Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
Dairy, dairy, quite contrary. For years, it’s been commonly accepted that humans’ tolerance to lactose, a sugar in milk, evolved slowly due to milk’s nutritional benefits. However, a paper recently published in Nature argues that may not be the case. According to researchers from the University of Bristol and the University College London, the truth might be a lot messier. They posit that lactase persistence, the trait that allows one’s body to produce an enzyme to break down lactose, doesn’t provide enough of an evolutionary advantage to evolve for that reason alone. Besides, Europeans were widely consuming dairy products for at least 9,000 years, but the genes responsible for lactase persistence didn’t become common until around 3,000 years ago.
To understand what happened, picture a farmer in ancient Europe: he has a cow that turns inedible grass into delicious milk. Drinking that milk makes him bloated and gives him diarrhea, but a little digestive upset isn’t normally that big of a deal. Then a famine comes and suddenly, there is little to eat. He could butcher the cow for her meat, but if he keeps her around, he could live off that milk for a bit longer. Alas, his body can’t process milk very well. His diarrhea dehydrates him, and the unlucky farmer perishes with many others during the famine. Meanwhile, his neighbor, who never had any digestive issues after drinking milk, does just fine. He supplements what little food he has with milk, and after surviving the famine, he has several children who all inherit lactase persistence. When the town’s population recovers, there are suddenly a lot more people with the trait than before. In other words, the evolution of lactase persistence was heavily driven by deaths from famine and disease. The history of milk is udderly dark.
[Image description: Milk pouring into a glass.] Credit & copyright: Pezibear, Pixabay
Dairy, dairy, quite contrary. For years, it’s been commonly accepted that humans’ tolerance to lactose, a sugar in milk, evolved slowly due to milk’s nutritional benefits. However, a paper recently published in Nature argues that may not be the case. According to researchers from the University of Bristol and the University College London, the truth might be a lot messier. They posit that lactase persistence, the trait that allows one’s body to produce an enzyme to break down lactose, doesn’t provide enough of an evolutionary advantage to evolve for that reason alone. Besides, Europeans were widely consuming dairy products for at least 9,000 years, but the genes responsible for lactase persistence didn’t become common until around 3,000 years ago.
To understand what happened, picture a farmer in ancient Europe: he has a cow that turns inedible grass into delicious milk. Drinking that milk makes him bloated and gives him diarrhea, but a little digestive upset isn’t normally that big of a deal. Then a famine comes and suddenly, there is little to eat. He could butcher the cow for her meat, but if he keeps her around, he could live off that milk for a bit longer. Alas, his body can’t process milk very well. His diarrhea dehydrates him, and the unlucky farmer perishes with many others during the famine. Meanwhile, his neighbor, who never had any digestive issues after drinking milk, does just fine. He supplements what little food he has with milk, and after surviving the famine, he has several children who all inherit lactase persistence. When the town’s population recovers, there are suddenly a lot more people with the trait than before. In other words, the evolution of lactase persistence was heavily driven by deaths from famine and disease. The history of milk is udderly dark.
[Image description: Milk pouring into a glass.] Credit & copyright: Pezibear, Pixabay
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FREEUS History Daily Curio #2490Free1 CQ
Lizzie Borden took an axe…the chilling rhyme is a reminder of how, 130 years ago today, Lizzie Borden murdered her stepmother and father. She used a hatchet, not an axe, and she was found innocent at trial. Yet most modern historians agree that Borden was guilty. After all, only she and a live-in maid were home when both her parents were murdered with repeated hatchet strikes to their faces, and Borden admitted that the maid was resting in the attic. So, how did Borden get off scot-free? It had a lot to do with the fact that she was a well-respected resident of the town of Fall River, Massachusetts, and that her family controlled much of the local economy. She was also the consummate “Protestant nun,” an upper-class lady remaining unmarried to maintain her independence. Except that despite being upper-class, she had little money of her own, relying on her father, who preferred to live a modest lifestyle in an area full of working-class immigrants.
During the murder trial, the defense’s main argument was that a woman of her upbringing and social class could never commit such a heinous act. Yet Borden had a clear motive, since her parents’ death would allow her to inherit a large fortune along with her sister, who was out of town at the time of the murders. But those facts along with a slew of other evidence and testimonies were not enough to convict Borden in the end. Although the judge presiding over the preliminary hearing determined that she was likely guilty of the crimes, when the case was sent to Superior Court for trial, the odds were stacked in her favor. On her legal team was a former governor of her state who had appointed one of the presiding judges. Additionally, the jury consisted almost entirely of Protestants who looked down on the Irish-Catholic dominated police department in Borden’s town. She also had the support of Fall River’s upper-class, including her wealthy extended family and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, of which she was a member. After she was acquitted, Borden moved to a nearby upper-class neighborhood and lived in the lap of luxury, but the media circus around her case made her an outcast from the same high society that had once come to her defense. Maybe her fortune helped assuage the blow, if not her guilt.
[Image description: A black-and-white portrait of Lizzie Borden wearing a black, collared dress.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Public DomainLizzie Borden took an axe…the chilling rhyme is a reminder of how, 130 years ago today, Lizzie Borden murdered her stepmother and father. She used a hatchet, not an axe, and she was found innocent at trial. Yet most modern historians agree that Borden was guilty. After all, only she and a live-in maid were home when both her parents were murdered with repeated hatchet strikes to their faces, and Borden admitted that the maid was resting in the attic. So, how did Borden get off scot-free? It had a lot to do with the fact that she was a well-respected resident of the town of Fall River, Massachusetts, and that her family controlled much of the local economy. She was also the consummate “Protestant nun,” an upper-class lady remaining unmarried to maintain her independence. Except that despite being upper-class, she had little money of her own, relying on her father, who preferred to live a modest lifestyle in an area full of working-class immigrants.
During the murder trial, the defense’s main argument was that a woman of her upbringing and social class could never commit such a heinous act. Yet Borden had a clear motive, since her parents’ death would allow her to inherit a large fortune along with her sister, who was out of town at the time of the murders. But those facts along with a slew of other evidence and testimonies were not enough to convict Borden in the end. Although the judge presiding over the preliminary hearing determined that she was likely guilty of the crimes, when the case was sent to Superior Court for trial, the odds were stacked in her favor. On her legal team was a former governor of her state who had appointed one of the presiding judges. Additionally, the jury consisted almost entirely of Protestants who looked down on the Irish-Catholic dominated police department in Borden’s town. She also had the support of Fall River’s upper-class, including her wealthy extended family and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, of which she was a member. After she was acquitted, Borden moved to a nearby upper-class neighborhood and lived in the lap of luxury, but the media circus around her case made her an outcast from the same high society that had once come to her defense. Maybe her fortune helped assuage the blow, if not her guilt.
[Image description: A black-and-white portrait of Lizzie Borden wearing a black, collared dress.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
August 3, 2022
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
The bill especially helps Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. Questions are swirling around schools’ use of tracking software on st...
The bill especially helps Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. Questions are swirling around schools’ use of tracking software on st...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 3, 2022
patina \puh-TEE-nuh\ noun
What It Means
A patina is a usually green film that forms on copper and bronze that is exposed ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 3, 2022
patina \puh-TEE-nuh\ noun
What It Means
A patina is a usually green film that forms on copper and bronze that is exposed ...
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FREEEntrepreneurship Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
If you’re willing to put in the work, that backyard pool could just pay for itself. In 2019, a company called Swimply began allowing people in the U.S. and Canada to rent out their private pools for an hourly fee. That’s opened up a world of opportunities for some pool-owners, who have turned their swimming holes into lucrative side-hustles. Take 57-year-old Jim Battan, of West Linn, Oregon, who paid off the entire $110,000 building cost of his pool (and then some) using Swimply. He’s had over 9,000 swimmers come through his property since September, 2020. As with every business, though, hard work and monetary investment are required to be truly successful. Battan and his wife spend around 12 to 14 hours a week on their pool-based endeavor, from maintaining water chemicals to booking swimmers to greeting guests when they arrive. Their diligence helps earn them repeat swimmers, whose reviews reflect that they appreciate the work put into maintaining the pool. Battan has paid around $37,000 on pool maintenance over the last ten years, but his efforts have undoubtedly paid off as he’s brought in around $177,000 in the last two years alone. When in doubt in the business world, just keep swimming.
[Image description: A backyard swimming pool overlooking the ocean.] Credit & copyright: jamicc, PixabayIf you’re willing to put in the work, that backyard pool could just pay for itself. In 2019, a company called Swimply began allowing people in the U.S. and Canada to rent out their private pools for an hourly fee. That’s opened up a world of opportunities for some pool-owners, who have turned their swimming holes into lucrative side-hustles. Take 57-year-old Jim Battan, of West Linn, Oregon, who paid off the entire $110,000 building cost of his pool (and then some) using Swimply. He’s had over 9,000 swimmers come through his property since September, 2020. As with every business, though, hard work and monetary investment are required to be truly successful. Battan and his wife spend around 12 to 14 hours a week on their pool-based endeavor, from maintaining water chemicals to booking swimmers to greeting guests when they arrive. Their diligence helps earn them repeat swimmers, whose reviews reflect that they appreciate the work put into maintaining the pool. Battan has paid around $37,000 on pool maintenance over the last ten years, but his efforts have undoubtedly paid off as he’s brought in around $177,000 in the last two years alone. When in doubt in the business world, just keep swimming.
[Image description: A backyard swimming pool overlooking the ocean.] Credit & copyright: jamicc, Pixabay -
FREERelationships Daily Curio #2489Free1 CQ
This monkey business has gotten pretty serious. The city of Yamaguchi in southern Japan is under attack by badly-behaved macaque monkeys. Recently, a monkey identified as being responsible for several attacks was put down after an incident involving a 4-year-old in a school playground. Now, the school is no longer allowing children outside to play during school hours. Also known as snow monkeys, the Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) are famous around the world for soaking it up in the country’s natural mountain hot springs. They were once considered endangered, but their population has now grown to the point that they are considered a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. That’s good, right? Well, as the monkeys’ population has boomed, they’ve been spreading out of the mountains. Rural villages with shrinking human populations have become overrun in some places. Yamaguchi, which sits near mountains and hills, has monkeys coming out of the forests and into the streets.
Macaques aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill urban pests. They can live up to 27 years, and they’re intelligent enough to learn from their experiences during that long lifespan. Males can weigh up to 25 pounds, while females get up to 18.5 pounds, and groups of macaques, called troops, have been known to number over 100. The monkeys can be very aggressive toward humans, unlike other wildlife that tends to shy away from them. All that combined means that the monkeys and the residents of Yamaguchi have been clashing more and more often lately, with no effective solution in sight. In July alone, the city had 56 reported attacks on people, mostly on women and children. City official Masato Saito told the Associated Press, “They are so smart, and they tend to sneak up and attack from behind, often grabbing at your legs. I have never seen anything like this my entire life.” Macaques are also smart enough to avoid traps, and have managed to sneak into people’s homes by unlocking doors. At least one elderly man was attacked while he was sleeping. Residents have been cautioned to keep their doors and windows securely closed, and some have taken to carrying improvised weapons like umbrellas and gardening shears. Are macaques smart enough to understand the term “ceasefire”?
[Image description: A Japanese macaque stands on a rooftop with mountains in the background.] Credit & copyright: Michelle_Raponi, PixabayThis monkey business has gotten pretty serious. The city of Yamaguchi in southern Japan is under attack by badly-behaved macaque monkeys. Recently, a monkey identified as being responsible for several attacks was put down after an incident involving a 4-year-old in a school playground. Now, the school is no longer allowing children outside to play during school hours. Also known as snow monkeys, the Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) are famous around the world for soaking it up in the country’s natural mountain hot springs. They were once considered endangered, but their population has now grown to the point that they are considered a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. That’s good, right? Well, as the monkeys’ population has boomed, they’ve been spreading out of the mountains. Rural villages with shrinking human populations have become overrun in some places. Yamaguchi, which sits near mountains and hills, has monkeys coming out of the forests and into the streets.
Macaques aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill urban pests. They can live up to 27 years, and they’re intelligent enough to learn from their experiences during that long lifespan. Males can weigh up to 25 pounds, while females get up to 18.5 pounds, and groups of macaques, called troops, have been known to number over 100. The monkeys can be very aggressive toward humans, unlike other wildlife that tends to shy away from them. All that combined means that the monkeys and the residents of Yamaguchi have been clashing more and more often lately, with no effective solution in sight. In July alone, the city had 56 reported attacks on people, mostly on women and children. City official Masato Saito told the Associated Press, “They are so smart, and they tend to sneak up and attack from behind, often grabbing at your legs. I have never seen anything like this my entire life.” Macaques are also smart enough to avoid traps, and have managed to sneak into people’s homes by unlocking doors. At least one elderly man was attacked while he was sleeping. Residents have been cautioned to keep their doors and windows securely closed, and some have taken to carrying improvised weapons like umbrellas and gardening shears. Are macaques smart enough to understand the term “ceasefire”?
[Image description: A Japanese macaque stands on a rooftop with mountains in the background.] Credit & copyright: Michelle_Raponi, Pixabay