3 Seconds

Every year, almost 2000 Canadians die in traffic accidents, 94% due to human error, so what's going on behind the wheel that's causing so much grief and sorrow?

Our business partners at Travelers Insurance, along with their affiliates at the Travelers Institute, have worked diligently on reducing the major causes of traffic accidents. Sadly, distracted driving has now taken top spot in this category, surpassing impaired driving as number one.

Of course, any accident with human error as the cause can also be considered a preventable accident. Check out "Deadly Roads" or "Left Hand Turns" to read a bit more about the topic of preventable accidents, but suffice to say, we can do many things to reduce accidents.

Check out the video short above to get a visual on the full length Travelers Institute documentary "3 Seconds Behind The Wheel", produced in an effort to help reduce traffic accidents.

More Old Money

After posting about "New Money",  a previous post titled "Old Money" was revisited and there were some great comments and feedback about the history of some of those old bills, prompting me to do a bit of additional research.

The engraving of the Queen's portrait was done by The British American Bank Note Company artist George Gundersen in 1952. The artwork was based on the official photo portrait taken by one of the Queen's official photographers, Peter Dirk Uys, and was scheduled to be printed on all bank notes produced in 1954.

Shortly after being put into circulation, a complaint was received by the Bank Of Canada regarding a "devil's face" loacted in the Queen's hair, as demonstrated within the circled area in the diagram above and shown on its' own below.

Conspiracy theories abounded and an investigation was launched, but no proof of a conspiracy was ever found and no charges were ever laid, however, a revised portrait was done, new bank notes were produced, and the offending bank notes were pulled from circulation and cancelled.

A basic internet showed there was no set value attached to the old, out of circulation "devil's face" bills but several of them appear for sale on e-Bay, with starting bids at USD $80 for a $20 bank note, so if you have a stash of old bills, it might be worthwhile sifting through them and having a look for this anomoly. 

New Money

I've written about "Old Money", with some old bank notes from the 1900's, but here's a post about the newest money which was just released by The Bank Of Canada.

Some interesting facts about this particular bank note, with a couple of firsts to its' credit.

First bank note to have a vertical orientationn, allowing for larger portraits and better overall design. It is also designed to work better "ergonomically", as most people look through their wallets in such a manner that the vertical orientation will be seen easier.

First bank note to feature a woman, other than a paliamentarian or Royalty. Of course, most Canadian currency featured the Queen, and between the years 2004 -2012 the $50 bank note featured a composite portrait of Senator Therese Casgrain along with the ladies of the Famous 5 (Nellie McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Irene Parlby, and Emily Murphy)

As mentioned, the new note does not include a portrait of the Queen, nor any prime ministers.

The $10 bill is all about human rights, as it features the Canadian Museum Of Human Rights in Winnipeg and includes an excerpt from the Charter Of Rights, as well as an eagle feather to represent the indigenous people of Canada.

As an added security measure, the eagle feather changes colour when the bill is tilted.

The added security feature means the bank note cost $0.27 to manufacture, slightly more than the cost of the previous edition which was $0.23

Say What?

After putting out the thought inducing post titled "Encryption", it seemed logical to follow up with some of my other favourite sayings, also meant to be perplexing. 

Give me ambiguity, or give me something else!

And, on the topic of ambiguity, how about these fine written examples?

• After a number of injections my jaw got number. 
• Entire store 25% off. 
• Please press ANY key to continue.
• Please wait for hostess to be seated.
• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.  
• I saw her duck. 
• A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
• Slow children at play. 
• Clearly misunderstood.
• Men's wool suits $10. They won't last an hour!
• Found missing. 

Think About These Facts The Next Time You're Flying On An Airplane!

Having just returned from a trip to Africa, whereby I spent about 25 hours in transit, here's some crazy facts about flying that will give you cause for thought. 

Only 5% of the world's population has ever flown, though it has been difficult to confirm this fact with an internet search since few countries actually chart these statistics. However, if you consider that approx 47% of people in the U.S have flown and they account for 4.4% of the world's populatuion, we could surmise this fact to be true.

Food on a plane isn't terribly appetizing because altitude, pressure, and lack of humidity affect your sense of taste. Also, the cabin air affects your smell, which is the predominant factor in taste. Apparently, even jet engine noise has an impact on your tongue and will affect your taste.

That air quality and lack of humidity is quantifiable, being about 20% and similar to that of  the Sahara Desert.

Like being in the desert, you lose about 250 ml of water for every hour of flying, so drinking a lot of water may mean extra trips to the toilet but will ensure you're properly hydrated..

And, speaking of the toilet, it is impossible to be accidentally locked in the washroom of an airplane. For safety reasons, flight attendants have ways of opening those doors!

An empty Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" weighs close to 117,617 kilograms., the equivalent of about 29 elephants! 

The above mentioned passenger plane travels at an average speed of 1045 kmph.

That 747 also burns up about 13,600 litres of fuel per hour during flying, which sound like a lot but considering that the plane holds about 500 people, that works out to approximately 27.2 litres per hour per person, with the plane flying at a speed of 800 kmph. That's about 3 litres per 100 km., somewhat better than the approx. 4 litres per 100 km you'd get in a Toyota Prius!

Redundancy

Help Stamp Out, Eliminate And Abolish Redundancy!

Haha! This is another one of my favourite sayings, just like the "Say What" post done on Oct 13th. And, to compliment the saying, here's a few photos to process too! haha.

How Many F's ?

Here's a quick test of your perception....read the following and count the number of "f'"s in the paragraph. 

Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of many years!

How many did you get? Most people come up with an immediate answer of 3, but how about you?

Count again! If in doubt, start at the end and read it backwards.

Proof positive that "perception is reality". 

Want!!

Maybe it's because I love the old vintage Airstreams so much, but this crazy 1930's era Stout Scarab would sure be cool to own. 

Designed by William Bushnell Stout and inspired by the Dymaxion car conceptualized by Buckminister Fuller, this Rolling Art Deco rig actually went into a very limited production. They only hand built about 100 of what could rightfully be called the first "minivan", so having one in this day and age is a rarity.

Very cool indeed, and innovative too. Ponton styled body, rear mounted engine, independant suspension, and a unitized body that emulated an aircraft fuselage. They were considered "ugly" at the time, but hey, art is subjective and this rig could only be called rolling art.

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight, to reflect daylight savings which takes place at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday November 4th.

Some interesting facts about day light savings time

• Originally designed to be an energy savings process by giving more daylight hours in the evening during summer months and reducing the need for lights and heating
• The first country to adopt DST was Germany in 1916
• It was used sporadically and inconsistantly throughout various cities and regions in Canada as far back as 1914 but only introduced across the country in 1966, when Canada followed the lead of the U.S. and adopted their Uniform Time Act
• Only about 40% of countries in the world use DST, with many of the non-users living near the equator where sunrises and sunsets are relatively consistant
• There is little consequence to those living in polar regions, as the sunrises and sunsets are dramatically different during the two seasons
• It seems that sports, retailing and tourism gain the most benefit from DST
• In Canada, the province of Saskatchewan stays on DST permanently
• Autumn clock adjustments have you putting the clock back to what would be the standard time
• Many people have difficulty adjusting to even just a one hour time change, and pets and small children are prone to not fitting in to new time schedules.
• There are continuous debates about DST, with some opposing having it at all, some for maintaining the status quo, and some saying we should stay on it at all times