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theotherbogart

TIL: A sex toy maker agreed to pay customers up to C$10,000 each for selling a “smart vibrator,” which tracked owners’ use without their knowledge. Two hackers had demonstrated the company was collecting information about users, including device temperature and vibration intensity.

theguardian.com

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_121oi52 on March 25, 2023 at 2:58 PM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: James Blunt gave Weird Al Yankovic permission to parody his single "You're Beautiful." But after Yankovic recorded "You're Pitiful," Blunt's record label refused to let it be commercially released. Yankovic didn't include it on his album. Instead, he released it as a free digital download.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_1206gai on March 24, 2023 at 2:37 AM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: Tracy Chapman sued Nicki Minaj for copyright infringement. According to the complaint, Chapman repeatedly refused to give Minaj permission to sample one of her songs, but Minaj did it anyway. Minaj settled and agreed to pay Chapman $450K.

nbcnews.com

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_1204z9l on March 24, 2023 at 1:38 AM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: "Jamaica Mistaica" is a song Jimmy Buffett wrote about the time Jamaican police shot his plane. The plane was also carrying U2's Bono when police, suspecting it was being used to smuggle drugs, began shooting. The plane (and its bullet holes) is now displayed at Buffett's Margaritaville.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_11whmns on March 20, 2023 at 12:31 PM in todayilearned

25 comments

382

TIL: Napoleon Bonaparte refused to open his mail for three weeks. By that time, most of the issues raised in the letters had resolved themselves and no longer required his attention.

emersoncentral.com

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_11fphcy on March 2, 2023 at 1:59 AM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: To "protect the truth," a woman recorded hundreds of thousands of hours of TV news between 1977 and 2012. Her archives grew to about 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes stacked in her home and apartments she rented to store them. Upon her death, the Internet Archive agreed to digitize the volumes.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_10be7k1 on January 14, 2023 at 3:29 AM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: In 1986, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) held that US activities in Nicaragua, including laying mines in its ports, had violated international law. The US refused to participate in the proceedings and then rescinded its 40-year consent to the court's compulsory jurisdiction.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_zwhyqt on December 27, 2022 at 3:19 PM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: The final night of women's figure skating in 1994's Winter Olympics is the 6th highest rated TV broadcast in US history. Remembered for the Kerrigan-Harding subplot, 48.5% of all households with a TV watched the final. Since then, no other broadcast has matched that rating.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_zmxbfm on December 15, 2022 at 9:56 PM in todayilearned

14 comments

152

TIL: Pac-Man grossed $1 billion in quarters in its first year of release. In the following year, 1982, it earned $6 billion in quarters, which was more than the combined amount of money spent in Vegas casinos and US movie theaters that year.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_zm04zt on December 14, 2022 at 7:39 PM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL: Samuel Byck tried to assassinate President Nixon by hijacking a plane and crashing it into the White House. Byck drove to BWI, shot a police officer, stormed a Delta aircraft and shot the two pilots. Police stopped Byck before the plane ever moved, but Nixon was in the White House at the time.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_zcs5e2 on December 5, 2022 at 1:09 AM in todayilearned

25 comments

211

TIL: Dogs don't have digestive enzymes in their saliva, nor can they chew side to side. Their jaws only allow for up-and-down movement because their diet doesn’t need as much chewing as ours does.

yumove.co.uk

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_z8f1r3 on November 30, 2022 at 2:54 AM in todayilearned

21 comments

466

theotherbogart t1_iyb1vns wrote on November 30, 2022 at 1:50 AM

Reply to comment by tyleritis in TIL that in 1979, a charity special episode of the academic student quiz show "It's Academic" was held between a team of three Democratic U.S. Senators, three Republican U.S. Senators, and three members of the press. The special was handily won by the press team. by FranklinDRoosevelt32

Nope. 5 of 6 are dead.

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theotherbogart t1_iyb1oo2 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 1:48 AM

Reply to TIL that in 1979, a charity special episode of the academic student quiz show "It's Academic" was held between a team of three Democratic U.S. Senators, three Republican U.S. Senators, and three members of the press. The special was handily won by the press team. by FranklinDRoosevelt32

It takes some scrolling to find the Democrats were Lloyd Bentsen, Patrick Moynihan and Alan Cranston. The GOP team was Danforth, John Heinz and Weicker.

Lloyd Bentsen bring back memories - he was the last Democrat to be elected to the Senate from Texas… which happened in… 1988. Ouch.

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TIL Andre Agassi won 10 of 11 matches after seeing a "tick" in Boris Becker's serve. Agassi could predict where Becker was serving based on whether Becker stuck his tongue out in the middle of his lip or to the left corner of his lip. Agassi told Becker over a pint of beer - after they retired.

insider.com

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_z7gz99 on November 29, 2022 at 2:40 AM in todayilearned

No comments

TIL In 1983, Air Force One (with Reagan aboard) landed six minutes before a microburst slammed into the ground at Andrews Air Force Base, causing wind speeds to hit 149 mph. At the time, that was the fastest wind speed ever measured by an anemometer.

usatoday.com

Submitted by theotherbogart t3_yr2pva on November 10, 2022 at 2:20 AM in todayilearned

142 comments

1,758