Archive for February, 2009
Question Asked: When Was The Vacuum Invented?
The patent for the first “sweeping machine” was filed on June 8th, 1869.
The first device that we know today as a vacuum came from 1907’s invention by a janitor in Canton, Ohio.
In 1907, James Murray Spangler, a janitor in a Canton, Ohio department store, deduced that the carpet sweeper he used was the source of his cough. He tinkered with an old fan motor and attached it to a soap box stapled to a broom handle. Using a pillow case as a dust collector on the contraption, Spangler invented a portable electric vacuum cleaner. He then improved his basic model the first to use both a cloth filter bag and cleaning attachments, and received a patent in 1908, and formed the Electric Suction Sweeper Company. One of the first buyers was a cousin, whose husband, William H. Hoover, later became the president of the Hoover Company, with Spangler as superintendent. Hoover’s improvements resembled a bagpipe attached to a cake box, but they worked. Sluggish sales were given a kick by Hoover’s 10 day, free home trial, and eventually there was a Hoover® vacuum cleaner in nearly every home.
The quote above is cited from About.com
Question Asked: When Was The Soda Can Invented?
The following is from Wikipedia, and cited as the most accurate history of the “soda can” I can find on the internet. Short of driving to the Coca Cola factory, I think this is the best we’re gonna get.
The first all-aluminum cans were the same as their forebears, which still used the can opener to open them. Mikola Kondakow of Thunder Bay, Ontario invented the pull tab version for bottles in 1956 [Canadian patent 476789]. Then, in 1962, Ermal Cleon Fraze of Dayton, Ohio, invented the similar integral rivet and pull-tab version (also known as rimple or ring pull), which had a ring attached at the rivet for pulling, and which would come off completely to be discarded. He received U.S. Patent No. 3,349,949 for his pull-top can design in 1963 and licensed his invention to Alcoa and Pittsburgh Brewing Company. It was first introduced on Iron City Beer cans by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company. The first soft drinks to be sold in all-aluminum cans were R.C. Cola and Diet-Rite Cola, both made by the Royal Crown Cola company, in 1964.
Question Asked: Who Has The Best Record In Baseball History?
The winningest team in baseball history goes all the way back to the 1906 Chicago Cubs.
They won 116 games, and only lost 36 (.763%), but went on to lose the World Series.
In our generation, the winningset two teams were the 2001 Seattle Mariners (116 and 46), and the 1998 New York Yankees. (114 and 48)
Question Asked: How Hard Is It To Move To A New Webhost?
It all depends on how comfortable you are with this sort of technology.
It’s a proven fact that people stay with a webhost that they’re unhappy with because they’re scared to move their site, in fear that the new host will a) be worse, and b) be a nightmare to move their site to.
That’s not the case. Moving to a new webhost, if you’re familiar with FTP and phpMyAdmin (if you use MySQL) it’s pretty easy to do. Here’s all you’d need to do.
1) Sign up for an account with a new webhost.
– Search online for reviews, but don’t trust sites that their sole purpose is to review webhosts. They generally review ones that pay higher commissions for getting them signups. Look for blogs, and forums instead.
2) Once signed up, create your domain name with them in their control panel.
3) Once your domain is created, start FTPing your files up to the new server. Most hosts will give you a temporary URL to view your site on, before changing your DNS to the new host. This way you can ensure everything’s working as it’s supposed to before directing your site visitors there.
4) If your site uses MySQL as a database, you’ll need to import that into your new host.
– Create a MySQL database and MySQL user from your new host’s control panel.
– Login to phpMyAdmin, and use the “import” section to import your exported .sql file from your old host.
5) You’ll need to recreate your e-mail addresses as well, that can be done from your new host’s control panel.
6) Once you’ve done all that, just login to whoever manages your domain name’s website, and change your DNS. (Your new host will provide their DNS information to you.)
That’s all there is to it. Once you change DNS, it’ll take a day or two for everyone on the internet to view your site at the new location. What I usually do, to see if DNS has updated for me, is add NEW to the footer of the site I’m viewing. If I see NEW, I’m viewing the site on the new host. If I don’t, DNS hasn’t updated, and it’s still on the old host.
Seems pretty easy, unless you don’t know what any of that stuff I wrote above means. It may be easier for you to just pay your new host to move the site for you. Most hosts offer a service of this type for around $100, and for some people it may be worth it.
Question Asked: Where Can I Find A List Of Last Night’s Oscar Winners?
Right here, of course! Here’s the list, in order they were announced:
Best Supporting Actress:
Winner: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Amy Adams, Doubt
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Best Original Screenplay:
Winner: Milk, Dustin Lance Black
Frozen River, Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter
Adapted Screenplay:
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Best Animated Feature:
Winner:Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Best Animated Short Film:
Winner: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory – Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up
Best Art Direction:
Winner:The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
Best Costume Design:
Winner: The Duchess
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Revolutionary Road
Best Makeup:
Winner:The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Best Cinematography:
Winner:Slumdog Millionaire
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Live Action Short:
Winner: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Auf de Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Supporting Actor
Winner: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Documentary Feature
Winner: Man on Wire
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Trouble the Water
Documentary Short:
Winner: Smile Pinki
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
The Witness – Fromt he Balcony of Room 306
Visual Effects:
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Sound Editing:
Winner: The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
Sound Mixing:
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
WALL-E
Wanted
Editing:
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Original Score:
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat
Defiance, James Newton Howard
Milk, Danny Elfman
WALL-E, Thomas Newman
Original Song:
Winner:”Jai Ho,” Slumdog Millionaire
“Down to Earth,” WALL-E
“O Saya,” Slumdog Millionaire
Foreign Language Film:
Winner: Departures, Japan
The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany
The Class, France
Revanche, Australia
Waltz with Bashir, Israel
Best Director:
Winner: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Best Actress:
Winner: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best Actor:
Winner: Sean Penn, Milk
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Picture:
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader