HARDminute Factoid #61 Failing with Dignity

The HARDminute # 61

A Series of “Top Tens”

That Took Forever to Compile

But Requires Only Sixty Seconds

for You to Read.

The TOP TEN

Ways to Fail a Test with Dignity







My own classes will be done by month end and I don’t teach any more till Spring Semester. These sorts of answers indicate that we can find humor almost anywhere, even in a classroom of adults. Thanks to my friend Patrick Moore in Tucson for sending these.



HOWEVER, he only provided me with 9 ways.



If you have another dignified way to fail with dignity, please send to me and I may be able to “top up” the list to give a true TOP TEN.

HARDminute factoid #60 Olympic conversion chart

The HARDminute # 60
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
The TOP TEN
Official Olympic
Temperature Conversion Chart

In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, American visitors…and TV viewers…should start now to become familiar with Canadian temperatures, which are measured in degrees Centigrade (or Celsius.)

You can reduce this quick reference guide to a business card size by using the appropriate Avery application.

Canadian officials recommend keeping one copy in your wallet, one near your TV remote, and one in your car when tuning in to CBC Satellite Radio, Sirius 137.


1. 75˚ Fahrenheit (24˚ C)
Phoenicians sing John Lennon’s “So this is Christmas”
Canadians sing Elvis Costello’s “This is Hell”

2. 50° Fahrenheit (10° C)

Californians shiver uncontrollably.

Canadians plant gardens.

3. 35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)

Italian Cars won't start

Canadians drive with the windows down

4. 32° Fahrenheit (0° C)

American water freezes

Canadian water gets thicker.

5. 0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)

New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.

Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

6. Minus 60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)

Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.

Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door.

7. Minus 109.9° Fahrenheit (-78.5° C)

Carbon dioxide freezes makes dry ice.

Canadians pull down their earflaps.

8. Minus 173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)

Ethyl alcohol freezes.

Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg

9. Minus 459.67° Fahrenheit (-273.15° C)

Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.

Canadians start saying "Cold, eh?"

10. Minus 500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)

Hell freezes over.

Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!

HARDminute factoid 59 BEER

The HARDminute # 55
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
PRODUCERS / CONSUMERS
OF BEER



Country
Millions of hectoliters
1 China
393
2 USA
234
3 Russia
116
4 Germany
105
5 Brazil
96
6 Mexico
81
7 Japan
63
8 United Kingdom
51
9 Poland
36
10 Spain
34

Top ten countries per capita consumption
Country
liters per capita
1 Czech Republic
159
2 Germany
111
3 Austria
108
4 Venezuela
101
5 Poland
93
6 Romania
92
7 United Kingdom
88
8 Belgium
86
9 Australia
85
10 Spain
84

The USA is number 11 at 83 liter per capita
The top 5 largest “brewing groups” in the world (end 2008) make half of the world’s beer!
The World's Top 5 Brewing Groups

Brewing Group
Corporate HQ
Millions Hectoliter
% World Production
1 AB Inbev (1)
Belgium
388.1
21.4%
2 SAB Miller
United Kingdom
174.4
9.6%
3 Heineken
Netherlands
161.5
8.9%
4 Carlsberg
Denmark
109.3
6.0%
5 China Resource Brewery
China
73
4.0%
(1) Anheuser-Busch Inbev(2) South African Breweries Miller (does not include joint venture data with Molson-Coors)

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid # 58 BANANAS

The HARDminute # 58
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
BANANA PRODUCERS & EXPORTERS

Top Banana Producing Nations

India ... 16.8 million metric tonnes
Brazil ... 6.7
China ... 6.4
Ecuador ... 5.9
Philippines ... 5.8
Indonesia ... 4.5
Costa Rica ... 2
Mexico & Thailand ... 2.0 each
10 Colombia & Burundi ... 1.6 each

From 10% to 15% of global banana crops are exported.

Top Banana Exporting Nations
Ecuador ... 4.7 million metric tonnes (+2.6% from 2004)
Philippines ... 1.9 (+6.0%)
Costa Rica ... 1.6 (-11.1%)
Colombia ... 1.5 (+7.4%)
Guatemala ... 1.1 (+6.7%)
Honduras ... 0.51 (-3.8%)
Panama ... 0.36 (-10%)
Cameroon ... 0.26 (-12.7%)
Brazil ... 0.21 (+12.7%)
Cote d'Ivoire ... 0.21 (-7.9%)

Four countries (Ecuador, Philippines, Costa Rica and Colombia) generate almost three-quarters of world banana exports.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Ecuador alone exports more than one-third of international banana exports.
The dominant banana importers are European countries (29.2%), U.S. (27.5%), Japan (8.2%), Russia (7.9%) and Canada (3.5%).
Read more: http://internationaltrade.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_ten_banana_countries#ixzz0SSX3TH2D

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid #57 COAL

The HARDminute # 57
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
PROVEN COAL RESERVES

If we can just get to more clean coal uses!!




Country
Bituminous & anthracite
SubBituminous & lignite
TOTAL
Share
USA
111,338
135,305
246,643
27.1
Russia
49,088
107,922
157,010
17.3
China
62,200
52,300
114,500
12.6
India
90,085
2,360
92,445
10.2
Australia
38,600
39,900
78,500
8.6
South Africa
48,750
0
48,750
5.4
Ukraine
16,274
17,879
34,153
3.8
Kazakhstan
28,151
3,128
31,279
3.4
Poland
14,000
0
14,000
1.5
Brazil
0
10,113
10,113
1.1
Germany
183
6,556
6,739
0.7
Colombia
6,230
381
6,611
0.7
Canada
3,471
3,107
6,578
0.7



Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid #56 Newspapers

The HARDminute # 56
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
US Newspapers by Circulation*


USA Today Circulation: 2,281,831
Wall Street Journal Circulation: 2,070,498
New York Times Circulation: 1,121,623
Los Angeles Times Circulation: 907,997
Washington Post Circulation: 740,947
New York Daily News Circulation: 708,773
Chicago Tribune Circulation: 643,086
New York Post Circulation: 565,679
Long Island Newsday Circulation: 527,744
Houston Chronicle Circulation: 477,493

*Source: Newspapers.com

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid 55 ELectricity

The HARDminute # 55
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
PRODUCERS / CONSUMERS

OF ELECTRICITY



PRODUCTION

Rank
Country
Electricity – production kWh
Date of Information
1
World
18,960,000,000,000
2007 est.
2
United States
4,167,000,000,000
2007 est.
3
China
3,256,000,000,000
2007
4
European Union
3,056,000,000,000
2007 est.
5
Japan
1,082,000,000,000
2007 est.
6
Russia
964,200,000,000
2007 est.
7
India
665,300,000,000
2007 est.
8
Canada
612,600,000,000
2007 est.
9
Germany
594,700,000,000
2007 est.
10
France
537,900,000,000
2007 est.



DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

Rank
Country
Electricity - consumption(kWh)
Date of Information
1
World
16,880,000,000,000
2007 est.
2
United States
3,892,000,000,000
2007 est.
3
China
2,859,000,000,000
2006
4
European Union
2,858,000,000,000
2007 est.
5
Japan
982,500,000,000
2006 est.
6
Russia
819,600,000,000
2006 est.
7
Germany
549,100,000,000
2006 est.
8
Canada
530,000,000,000
2006 est.
9
India
517,200,000,000
2006 est.
10
France
447,300,000,000
2006 est.


Of the top ten countries/regions, only India must be a net importer of power.

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid 54 Ice Cream

The HARDminute # 54
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
BEN & JERRY’S
ICE CREAM FLAVORS*


Cherry Garcia® Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Chunky Monkey® Ice Cream
Chocolate Fudge Brownie™ Ice Cream
Half Baked™ Ice Cream
New York Super Fudge Chunk® Ice Cream
Phish Food® Ice Cream
Coffee Heath Bar Crunch® Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Cup™ Ice Cream
Vanilla Ice Cream

*Source: http://www.americasbestonline.net/index.php/pages/icecreamflavors.html

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute Factoid 53 Muslim Population

The HARDminute # 53
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
MUSLIM POPULATIONS


Country Muslim Muslim
Population Population
(Source 1) (Source 2)

Indonesia 182,570,000 170,310,000
Pakistan 134,480,000 136,000,000
India 121,000,000 103,000,000
Bangladesh 114,080,000 106,050,000
Turkey 65,510,000 62,410,000
Iran 62,430,000 60,790,000
Egypt 58,630,000 53,730,000
Nigeria 53,000,000 47,720,000
Algeria 30,530,000
Morocco 28,780,000
China 37,108,000

Of these, only Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco are Arab countries. Despite widespread belief to the contrary, only 15-18% (about 195,000,000) of Muslims are Arab.


Sources
1. http://www.godweb.org/whatisislam.htm
2. www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam.htm

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid 52 Languages

The HARDminute # 52
A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
WORLD’S MOST-SPOKEN
LANGUAGES

Mandarin Chinese 13.22%
Spanish 4.88%
English 4.68%
Arabic 3.12%
Hindi 2.74%
Portuguese 2.69%
Bengali 2.59%
Russian 2.20%
Japanese 1.85%
Standard German 1.44%

note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Source: www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html
2005 figures

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

HARDminute factoid 51A Blood

HARDminute # 51A
Some factoid / some opinion

GIVE LIFE
Twenty-five Facts about Giving Blood


Several months ago, I learned that a friend and colleague had fought off cancer, very quickly as it turns out. But he had needed aggressive care and lots of platelets or plasma. I don’t know the difference.

I do know that he was recovered and looked great, and that I was thankful.

I left his office and committed to giving platelets or plasma. (I don’t know the difference.)

I had always given blood fairly regularly, but always blanched when I looked to the platelets and plasma (I don’t know the difference.) area of the blood bank. Some people were wrapped in blankets. I thought it must hurt!!!

But I had decided.

I am embarrassed (NOT what I like to admit!!!!!!) that giving P or P was even less of an event than giving blood. What a wuss I had been for years. The needle stick even seemed less noticeable. I’m not sure but it seems like the needle is even shorter than for whole blood. It is absolutely smaller than what is used to draw blood for cholesterol, or diabetes, or all those check ups!! And, while I occasionally would be light headed (Please don’t even bother with the remark…I have heard similar ones for years.) giving whole blood, there was absolutely no reaction at all to P or P.

Apparently some people get tingly lips. (Please don’t even bother with the remark…I have heard similar ones for years.) Tums solves that. Some get cold. They get blankets. That’s IT!!

The ONLY down side is that it takes longer, between and hour and two hours. But I watch a movie in a very comfortable lounge chair. Every two weeks, since that time months I left Lewis’ (not his total real name) office, I have given platelets or plasma. The Red Cross people know which I can give at what intervals.

They take out some liquid, sift out some stuff and return the fluids. It’s miraculous and it’s also a complete non-event.

This is the only way we can help premature babies, burn victims and cancer patients.

I wish “Lewis” had never gotten cancer, but I am glad he is better. It was scary for friends and colleagues, so how bad was it for him and his family? And, it has given me the opportunity…the reminder…to be a better person by donating one of the things that others had donated to save my friend’s life. My wonderful wife says there was lots of room for that improvement.

If you have A+ blood, PLEASE consider giving plasma and platelets. ONLY your blood type is useable for this. PLEASE.

If you have a different blood type, please consider giving whole blood.

In keeping with my TOP TEN format, here are the Top Twenty-Five Facts about giving blood.


Three teaspoons of blood can save a baby's life
One donation has the potential to save as many as three lives
Whole blood donors can give every eight weeks
Today, fewer than four of every ten people in the U.S. are eligible to give blood. Fewer than one in ten actually donate
Approximately one out of every seven people entering the hospital needs blood
Plasma donors can give as often as every three days
Blood lasts only 42 days; platelets last only five days
Approximately 40,000 pints of blood are used each day in the United States
Patients with cancer require blood more frequently than other patients. Patients
with heart conditions are second most likely to require blood.
You must be at least 16 years old (donors who are 16 years old must have
written parental consent) and weigh 110 pounds or more to donate.
Each time you donate, you will receive a mini-physical to check your pulse,
temperature, blood pressure and iron level. Your donated blood will undergo ten tests for infectious diseases.
Your donated blood will be separated into three components – red cells, plasma
and platelets – that can help as many as three patients.
Low iron does not permanently disqualify a donor from giving blood. Iron levels
can be quickly increased by adding iron-rich foods and/or iron supplements.
Donors must wait 24 hours after taking their last dose of an oral antibiotic.
(There are some exceptions to this, however.)
You donate only a small portion of your body's blood supply. The average adult’s body contains about 10 to 12 pints of blood. Within 24 hours, your blood volume is restored.
Manufactured in the bone marrow, red blood cells are continuously being produced and broken down. They live for approximately 120 days in the circulatory system and are eventually removed by the spleen.
Platelets are made in the bone marrow and survive in the circulatory system for an average of 9-10 days before being removed from the body by the spleen.
Plasma is the liquid portion of the blood--a protein-salt solution in which red and white blood cells and platelets are suspended.
Blood transports nutrients and defensive anti-bodies, cells, and clotting factors; red blood cells deliver or release oxygen.
One donation can be separated into components and used to treat several patients. Some uses for blood components through transfusion therapy follow:
Packed red cells are prescribed for anemic patients.
Platelet concentrates control bleeding in leukemic patients.
Plasma from many donors is pooled to make derivatives such as antihemophilic factor, albumin for the treatment of shock, and gamma globulin which may prevent or make less severe certain diseases.
Cryoprecipitate is administered to patients with hemophilia A.
Blood groups are inherited. In our population the following percentages are found for ABO and Rh blood groups:
i. 38% will have group O positive blood.
ii. 7% will have group O negative blood.
iii. 34% will have group A positive blood.
iv. 6% will have group A negative blood.
v. 9% will have group B positive blood.
vi. 2% will have group B negative blood.
vii. 3% will have group AB positive blood.
viii. 1% will have group AB negative blood.
(The actual percentages of blood types may vary from one region to the next. These figures reflect the average of seven Red Cross blood services regions.)


PLEASE consider giving whole blood, or if you are type A+, consider platelets and plasma.

If you are in SOCAL and want me to go with you for the first time, just let me know.

HARDminute factoid 51 Christian populations

The HARDminute # 51

A Series of “Top Tens”

That Took Forever to Compile

But Requires Only Sixty Seconds

for You to Read.

WORLD’s Top Ten Christian Populations

By Country



USA 252,394,312
Brazil 166,847,207
China 110, 956,366
Mexico 102,956,366
Russia 84,494,596
Philippines 73,987,348
India 68,189,739
Germany 61,833,042
Nigeria 61,437,608
Dem. Rep. Congo 53,370,662
World total 2,135,784,198

Source: World Christian Database



Please let me know if this is of interest to you.

I welcome your feedback!

HARD