User:Gary/Did you know

Did you know?[edit]

... that in the video game Frog Fractions, the player travels from a lily pad on Earth to Mars, where they must obtain a work visa to continue working on the planet?
... that a survey found women in free-to-play massively multiplayer online games spent, on average, 50% more money than men?
... that the VW Beetle's Think Small advertising campaign has been called the best of the 20th century?
... that Google Personalized Search, a feature of Google Search, returns search results based on previous search queries made by the same person, and which results they clicked on?
... that the largest social graph, which represents the relationships between online users, is owned by Facebook, the world's largest social networking service?
... that Don Dodge, a former start-up evangelist for Microsoft, switched from using a Windows-based computer to a Mac-based one after he moved to Google?
... that HootSuite, which helps users organize their online identities, is used by the Obama administration and Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, among 400,000 other people?
... that the hedge fund Clarium Capital, which had US$7.8 billion in assets under management in June 2008, saw it drop to $1.5 billion a year later because investors feared the fund worsening?
... that software company Arbor Networks sells network security and monitoring software in use by over 70% of all Internet service providers, giving it unique insight into Internet traffic?
... that the website The Oatmeal, with comics of subjects ranging from zombies, to horse care, to English grammar, receives over 20 million hits a month after existing for less than a year?
... that the mobile gaming magazine Pocket Gamer peaked at a circulation of 700,000 copies when it was published in all T-Mobile and O2 UK stores in the UK and on the websites of Vodafone and 3 UK?
... that Edward Lampert became the first hedge fund manager to earn more than US$1 billion in a single year, when the investments owned by his firm, ESL Investments, rose in value by 69% in 2004?
... that George Will acquired 11 press passes that offered special locker-room privileges in Major League Baseball stadiums while doing research for his book, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball?
... that in recommending their products, Amazon.com originally used the technology behind MovieLens, a website that suggested films to its users based on their preferences?
... that the Google Guys, composed of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are among the richest people in the world with a net worth of US$17.5 billion each?
... that the word game Trickster, a spin-off of Scrabble, includes changes to the original game such as allowing players to form proper nouns with their letters and stealing another player's tiles?
... that the music website SongMeanings was created after its founder was inspired by a debate surrounding the meaning behind music group Ben Folds Five's song "Brick"?
... that sex therapy pioneer Helen Singer Kaplan advocated for people to enjoy sexual intercourse as much as possible as opposed to seeing it as something dirty or harmful?
... that social bookmarking service AddThis, combined with its parent company Clearspring, reach an online audience of more than 200 million monthly viewers?
... that the 1904 painting by Pablo Picasso, The Actor, estimated to be worth over $100 million, was torn when a woman stumbled and fell into it?
... that the song "Fake Empire" by The National was used at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and in a video for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, which the band actively supported?
... that the iPhone social platform OpenFeint had over ten million users in less than a year since it first launched?
... that research in which vertebrates or cephalopods are used in Canada must meet the ethical standards set by the Canadian Council on Animal Care?
... that the song created for The Coca-Cola Company's marketing campaign Open Happiness peaked at the number one spot on record charts in China?
... that Baseball Rubbing Mud, used by every team in Major League Baseball to give baseballs a rougher texture, originates from a secret location on the Delaware River?
... that Randall's Thumb was the first of a long series of W.S. Gilbert's plays at Marie Litton's newly christened Royal Court Theatre?
... that the calendar web application 30 Boxes is able to determine the time, date, and title of an event from a single sentence?
... that professional poker player Dan Harrington sometimes finds himself the victim of the poker strategies that he teaches in his Harrington on Hold 'em book series when playing poker tournaments?
... that contestants on the reality television series Face the Ace win US$1 million if they beat three poker professionals in one-on-one matches of Texas hold 'em?
... that the website Like.com allows users to highlight a part of a product image and search for similar-looking products based on the pattern, shape, and color of the highlighted part?
... that over 5,000 people applied to the quiz show Jeopardy! to be a part of the show's Clue Crew, a team of correspondents that film videos used to accompany some of the show's clues?
... that professional poker player Ilari Sahamies lost over US$3 million playing online poker while drunk, including more than $700,000 in a single day?
... that 21-year-old professional poker player Sami Kelopuro experiences daily swings of up to one million dollars when playing online poker?
... that the Moneymaker Effect is the name of poker's sudden growth in popularity after amateur Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event and claimed the US$2.5 million first prize?
... that the support website Get Satisfaction was created after its founders realized that on the Internet, when people had issues with companies, other people were often willing to help out?
... that the gambling magazine Total Gambler was Britain's most widely circulated monthly men's magazine when it launched in August 2005, with an initial print run of 650,000 copies?
... that downloads from the Microsoft Update Catalog are accelerated with Microsoft's Background Intelligent Transfer Service, a technology that attempts to use as little bandwidth as possible?
... that after realizing the blogosphere was similar to a stock market, Seyed Razavi created BlogShares to allow people to buy shares of blogs with virtual currency?
... that Russian politician Vladimir Nikolayev became mayor of Vladivostok, Russia, after his opponent was killed by a grenade left outside his office?
... that the Canadian Mohawk chief, the Flemish Bastard, was considered the primary spokesman for the pro-French faction of Canada in the 17th century?
... that television writer Steve Higgins was nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work on Saturday Night Live before becoming the announcer for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon?
... that Japanese video game designer Makoto Kanoh worked on the first three Metroid games, as well as 17 other games for Nintendo?
... that heavy metal band Lamb of God was banned from performing in Los Angeles, for The Subliminal Verses World Tour because their former name was Burn the Priest?
... that members of metal band Slipknot found the masks that they wear on stage to be particularly uncomfortable during their Tattoo the Earth concert tour?
... that the comedy film Skills Like This, created by a first-time director, won the award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2007 South by Southwest film festival?
... that Welcome to Macintosh, a documentary focusing on Apple Inc. and its Macintosh line of computers, was praised by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak for being the most accurate film about the company?
... that John Adams served as a member of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia for 20 years, making him one of the council's longest-serving members?
... that in the Wii video game Neighborhood Games, when playing with more than one person, player characters can taunt opposing players to break their concentration?
... that the Hudson's Bay Company's Joseph Adams oversaw the creation of a trading post from which Ontario's first English settlement originated?
... that the Nintendo DS video game, Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero, requires that players catch "elebits", which are small beings that pulse with electricity?
... that the 2007 French science fiction film Eden Log, created by first-time director Franck Vestiel, was shot using only hand-held cameras?
... that Ray Edwin Powell was the president of Alcan, a Canadian aluminum company, before becoming the 10th Chancellor of McGill University in 1957?
... that William Agar Adamson, the personal chaplain to Lord Sydenham, the first Governor of the Province of Canada, also wrote a book on salmon fishing?
... that while Auguste Achintre was traveling to New York City as Haiti's ambassador to the United States, the Haitian government was overthrown, revoking his role as ambassador?
... that Brian Hill is the only head coach for the Orlando Magic to serve during two non-consecutive periods?
... that the book Outliers, written by Malcolm Gladwell, claims that the key to success in any field is practicing a specific task for 10,000 hours?
... that the Nintendo DS video game Texas Hold 'Em Poker allows players to mimic certain nuances such as a card player's tell?
... that François Charles Archile Jeanneret was a student, chairman, and principal at the University of Toronto before becoming its 22nd Chancellor in 1959?
... that the educational Nintendo DS video game futureU helps students prepare for the SATs?
... that the Nintendo DS video game, Cradle of Rome, requires that players match jewels of the same type to build the Roman Empire?
... that Robert McKechnie was the University of British Columbia's longest-serving chancellor?
... that the 21st Chancellor of the University of Toronto, Samuel Beatty, was the first person to receive a PhD in mathematics from a Canadian university?
... that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver narrates the Nintendo DS cooking video game What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver?
... that the first head coach of Cleveland Browns, Paul Brown, coached the team for 17 complete seasons?
... that Ira Needles co-founded the University of Waterloo in 1957 with Gerald Hagey, and later served as the university's second chancellor?
... that the subprime mortgage crisis, among several other factors, led to a negative demand shock in the U.S. economy, which causes demand for goods and services to decrease?
... that Symantec was originally founded by Gary Hendrix to focus on AI-related projects such as natural language processing?
... that Microsoft made its largest acquisition ever when it purchased digital marketing company aQuantive for over US$6 billion?
... that when Adobe Systems acquired the company Scene7 in May 2007, its CEO, Doug Mack, became vice president of the Creative Solutions Services division at Adobe?
... that magazine publishing company Condé Nast Publications made its largest acquisition ever when it purchased Fairchild Publications for US$650 million?
... that computer software company Red Hat made its largest acquisition ever when it acquired free software support company Cygnus Solutions for US$674 million?
... that technology company Dell made its largest acquisition ever when it purchased EqualLogic, a storage device manufacturer, for US$1.4 billion in January 2008?
... that Expedia, Inc. made its largest acquisition ever when it purchased Travelscape for over US$89 million?
... that Radiohead have received ten nominations at the Grammy Awards, which won them the Best Alternative Music Performance award twice, for OK Computer in 1998 and Kid A in 2001?
... that Gorillaz received four nominations at the 2006 Grammy Awards for their song "Feel Good Inc.", winning the award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals?
... that the rock band Matchbox Twenty received two Grammy Award nominations in 2004?
... that Gwen Stefani's 2005 song "Hollaback Girl" received four nominations from the MTV Video Music Awards, and won the award for Best Choreography?
... that SearchFox, a website that offers personalized RSS feeds, was co-founded by James Gibbons, a Stanford University professor and former dean of the university's School of Engineering?
... that Akon received five Grammy Award nominations in 2008, including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his album Konvicted?
... that Coolio's 1995 song "Gangsta's Paradise" was nominated at the Grammy Awards in 1996 for Record of the Year and received the award for Best Rap Solo Performance?
... that The Notorious B.I.G., who was killed in 1997 from a drive-by shooting, received three Grammy Award nominations posthumously?
... that Barenaked Ladies has received six Juno Awards from nine nominations, including Group of the Year in 1992?
... that Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl" was nominated for five awards at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2008?
... that rock band Guns N' Roses has been nominated for the Best Hard Rock Performance award from the Grammy Awards three times but has never won it?
... that Ne-Yo received four nominations at the Grammy Awards in 2008, winning the award for Best Contemporary R&B Album for his album Because of You?
... that Beck has received four nominations for Best Alternative Music Performance at the Grammy Awards but only won it once, in 1997 for the album Odelay?
... that Kate Nash won the award for British Female Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards in 2008?
... that Google purchased in-game advertising company Adscape for US$23 million, only five years after the company was founded?
... that Max Blouw was chosen unanimously by Wilfrid Laurier University's selection committee to become its seventh president?
... that BuzzTracker was acquired by Yahoo! to complement its Yahoo! News product, and compete with other news aggregators including Google News and Digg?
... that Wilfrid Laurier University's senate voted unanimously in favor of instating John A. Pollack as the university's seventh chancellor?
... that the fourth president of Wilfrid Laurier University, John Angus Weir, helped form the university's undergraduate music therapy program?
... that ImageAmerica provided Google Earth with high resolution black and white images of New Orleans immediately after the events of Hurricane Katrina?
... that Dave Matthews Band received two Grammy Awards, one in 1997 for the song "So Much to Say" and another in 2004 for the song "Gravedigger"?
... that Nirvana's 1994 song "Heart-Shaped Box" was nominated for five MTV Video Music Awards, winning two of them?
... that alternative rock band The Strokes has been nominated for Best International Band three times from the NME Awards, winning it in 2006?
... that the Australian hard rock band AC/DC has never won a Grammy Award despite receiving four nominations during their career?
... that Ontario has more universities, with 22, than any other Canadian province?
... that anyone who has loaned or borrowed money has participated in the hypothetical loanable funds market that brings savers and borrowers together?
... that Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz studied economics at Harvard University for two years before moving to Palo Alto, California to work on Facebook full-time?
... that Owen Thomas, managing editor of New York City-based gossip and news blog Valleywag, writes most of the website's articles?
... that Adobe Systems made its largest acquisition ever by purchasing rival company Macromedia for over US$3.5 billion?
... that Nintendo plans to release a revised model of the Nintendo DS Lite handheld game console called the Nintendo DSi, with two built-in cameras?
... that the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has 11 universities, including the University of King's College, the oldest university in British North America?
... that the website Techmeme, created by Gabe Rivera, searches for the most popular technology-related news on the Internet and orders them based on an algorithm that determines popularity?
... that Cress Williams portrayed a Jem'Hadar leader in the Star Trek series, in the Deep Space Nine episode "The Jem'Hadar"?
... that the band Green Day has been nominated for 10 American Music Awards, 13 Grammy Awards, and 25 MTV Video Music Awards?
... that "Frog Legs Rag" was the second highest selling ragtime song after "Maple Leaf Rag" in publisher John Stillwell Stark's catalog?