Thursday, June 29, 2006

Facts to Know

If you need to waste some time, enjoy!

  • For every human being on earth, there are about 200 million insects.
  • The harmonica is the world's most popular instrument.
  • By the time they are 65 years old, most Americans have watched more than nine years worth of television.
  • The puck in ice hockey can travel at up to 118 mph (190 km/h).
  • If you stretched all the nerves in the body from end to end, they would be about 47 miles long.
  • Humans have more than 600 muscles in their bodies.
  • Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
  • Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
  • There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
  • The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
  • A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
  • There are more chickens than people in the world.
  • Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
  • The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
  • All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.
  • No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.
  • "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."
  • All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.
  • Almonds are a member of the peach family.
  • Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
  • Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
  • The largest cabbage weighed 144 lbs.
  • There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
  • Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula" - and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: "L.A."
  • A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
  • An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
  • Tigers have striped skin, not just stripped fur.
  • In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
  • Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
  • The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life."
  • A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
  • A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
  • It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. (DON'T try this at home!)
  • The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
  • In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
  • The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
  • Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.
  • There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.
  • "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
  • Many hamsters blink one eye at a time.
  • The inventor of the flushing toilet was Thomas Crapper.
  • The average bed is home to over 6 billion dust mites.
  • Plastic lawn flamingos outnumber real flamingos in the U.S.A.
  • Whitby, Ontario has more donut stores per capita than any other place in the world.
  • Starfish have no brain.
  • Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
  • Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel with over 50,000 words, none of which containing the letter "E".
  • Bulls are color blind.
  • A can of SPAM is opened every 4 seconds.
  • "Babe" was played by over 48 pigs.
  • Mosquitoes have 47 teeth.
  • Lip stick contains fish scales.
  • The Poison Arrow frog has enough poison to kill 2200 people.
  • The largest known kidney stone weighed 1.36 kilograms. Kidney stones come in any color from yellow to brown.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Five Elements of Success

Five Elements of Success

  1. Openness to learn - Openness to subordinate your ego to take ideas from others.
  2. Meritocracy - The best ideas are adopted and implemented using data to arrive at the best decision.
  3. Speed - Assuring you do things faster compared to yesterday and last quarter.
  4. Imagination - You continually bring better ideas and better innovation to the table.
  5. Excellence in Execution - That is implementation of these great ideas with a higher level of excellence today than yesterday.