Archive for January, 2009
Question Asked: When Was The Watch Invented?
The “pocket” watch was first invented in the early 16th century, around 1511. It is said that the pocket watch was derived from an earlier invention, that had been around since the 1400s.
The pocketwatch wasn’t a common item until the mid 1600s, when men in Germany and France began wearing them.
The “wrist” watch, which is what we commonly refer to as a “watch” nowadays, began in the late 1800s, and was first made by a Swiss man named Patek Philippe, who modified a pocket watch to make it fit on the wrist. At first, only women wore them, because they were considered unmanly.
In the early 1900s, Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont was working on inventing the aeroplane, and found it too hard to read his pocket watch in some of the cramped spaces he was working in. He commissioned Louis Cartier to create him a wristwatch.
Wristwatches weren’t a common household item until the late 1920s.
Nowadays, wristwatches are fading out again. The majority of people now are using their cellular telephones to tell time, in lieu of wearing a watch.
Question Asked: What Are The Cast Of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Up To Now?
Great question. As a fan of the show, it’ll be fun to dig into this, and find out.
As we know, Will Smith is a pretty huge movie star. That one’s a given.
Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks) doesn’t act anymore. Now he’s behind the camera directing various shows. His current gig is directing a show for GameShow Network, called “Catch 21.” Alfonso has also directed shows such as “One on One”, “All of Us”, “Eve” and “Cuts” for the UPN, before its demise.
James Avery (Uncle Phil) is still acting. He’s got four movies in the works, currently, and has been in a number of television shows and movies since “The Fresh Prince” went off the air back in 1996.
Karyn Parsons (Hilary Banks) hasn’t done much since 2002. Parsons currently is running a company called Sweet Blackberry, which focuses on producing straight to DVD movies about unsung African American heroes.
Tatyana Ali (Ashley Banks) is still acting. She had a short stint on TV’s “The Young and the Restless” a few years ago, and has a handful of movies coming up. Ali graduated from Harvard in 2002, with a degree in Government.
Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey) is also still acting, but hasn’t done anything as fame-inducing as “The Fresh Prince”. Marcell spends a lot of his time back in London, serving on the board of directors for Shakespeare’s Globe Theater.
That covers most of the main cast. There’s a zillion more people that were on the show, including two Aunt Vivians, but most of their lives are pretty boring, so I’m not covering them.
Question Asked: Who Is The Woman In The Progressive Insurance Commercials?
Stephanie Courtney as Flo
Her name is Stephanie Courtney, and she’s absolutely hysterical.
Stephanie plays Progressive’s “Flo”, a perky auto insurance employee, who’s always happy, and loves Progressive.
You may recognize Stephanie if you’ve got a good eye. She’s had bit parts on a ton of television shows in the past, such as:
“Angel”, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “The Man Show”, “Without a Trace”, “ER”, “For Your Consideration”, “Mad Men”, “Cavemen”, “Kath & Kim”, and has an upcoming role in Showtime’s new “The United States of Tara”.
She’s also appears in a handful of feature films, with small parts, such as: The Heartbreak Kid, The Brothers Solomon, and Blades of Glory.
Mystery solved, hope that was the info you were looking for.
Question Asked: How Many Eyelashes Do People Lose In A Day?
Believe it or not, how many eyelashes you lose in a day depends on a ton of factors, including gender, race, age, and diet.
On average, a 30 year old, white male with a healthy diet will lose one or two eyelashes per day.
On average, a 60 year old, white woman with a healthy diet will lose two or three eyelashes per day.
The number is generally around the same, between one to five, depending on various factors. Just about everyone loses at least one per day, though.
Contrary to popular belief, eyelashes do grow back. On average, it takes about a week for an eyelash to grow back.
Question Asked: Where Should I Buy My Domain Name?
Buying a domain name is all about comfort. Use a company that you know, and trust. Keep in mind, it shouldn’t always be about price.
I believe GoDaddy still has the cheapest domain names online, at $2.99. However, personally, I hate their checkout process. GoDaddy is very much a company that tries to sell you everything under the sun, when all you want to buy is a domain name. This makes the checkout process much much longer than it need be. Which annoys me.
Personally, I use DomainSite (domainsite.com) for my domains. They’re still fairly cheap, at $7.99, and their checkout process is just one simple step.
Things to remember when buying a domain name? Features. Do you get control over your own DNS? Do you get e-mail addresses? Do you have an auto-renew feature (so your domain won’t expire)? These things may seem small, but can make a big difference.
I’ll also offer the advice of where not to buy a domain. Any company that’s charging more than $15 for a domain name. Companies like NetworkSolutions still think it’s okay to charge people $35 for a domain name, not to mention the cost of “adding on” things that come standard with other services.
The tops you should pay is $15, and that’s at the expensive end.