Remember The Walkman?

Remember the walkman? I still have mine! I was amazed to find out that there were actually tons of variations. I had no idea. Besides the walkman, there are also predecessors, discman, and the watchman.

Walkman Central
http://www.walkmancentral.com/

Lost Parrot Tells Veterinarian His Address

I've got to post this awesome story from SFGate (a newspaper)!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2008/05/21/international/i003432D11.DTL

If the link doesn't work for you, try this condensed link (it will lead you to the same link above).

http://tinyurl.com/4z4obr

Blog - Toyology

This British blog is basically a "toyology" of toys. Since it's British, there are British toys included here. It's a fun blog.

Toyology
http://toyology.typepad.com/

Flickr - el estratografico's Old Paper Stuff

el estratografico has a cool set of old paper ephemera mostly in Spanish, which I thought were quite cool. I liked the classic design of most of them. There are 360 photos.

el estratografico's old paper stuff set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elestratografico/sets/72157600217825084/

Mr. Clean Will Clean Your Whole House

I had no idea Mr. Clean goes far back to 1957. According to Wikipedia, Mr. Clean was conceived in 1957 by Harry Barnhart who came up with the idea, and Ernie Allen who were from the Tatham-Laird & Kudner ad agency in Chicago.

Did you know that his full name is actually Veritably Clean? I did not know that till now. Additionally, Wikipedia informs us that his name is translated to other languages...."The name "Clean" is usually translated into local languages: in Canadian French M. Net; in Spain, Don Limpio; in Mexico, Maestro Limpio; in Italy, Mastro Lindo; in Germany, Meister Proper; in France, Monsieur Propre."

Did you know he is not a genie? I admit, there was a time when I used to think that he was a genie myself.

Here the entire "story" of Mr. Clean in Wikipedia. It is actually quite interesting. He originally was supposed to be a Navy sailor from Pensacola, FL. Here is another trivia, I'm sure many people think he never talked, but there was this one time that he did talk during the 1960's, with actor Mark Dana (I can't find a single picture of him on the net. I've been looking for it forever! I want to know what he looks like!) doing his voice. Check wikipedia for more info about Mr. Clean in Popular Culture, his commercial list and the jingle.

Wikipedia Mr. Clean
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Clean

Below is Mr. Clean first commercial 1958



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBHIqnvmOjI

Check These Radioactive Historical Instrumentations

This site runs by the "Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum Collection" which is a non profit organization. Also this site is part of a Federal computer system, and is monitored by the Department of Energy.

Which is why I'm not posting any images ;-( Tempting, but I am not taking the chance with a Federal site, even though this is not for a commercial purpose.

The collection which belongs to the ORAU is at the Professional Training Programs (PTP) training facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. They have radiological sciences and radiation instrumentation publications. So, if you want to seem them in person, you can contact them.

So, about the collection. It has all kinds of radiation items which include toys, which is one of the main reasons why I am publishing this link. ;-) Of course, they do have other cool items too. Not everything is fun here. There are various technical instruments are well, such as x-ray and gas discharge tubes, Spinthariscopes, Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope, Radiation Warning Signs. The museum directory is too long for me to jot it all down. There are 36 categories! I don't even know like half of the terms in that directory. I've never heard of the word Spinthariscopes for example.

Bottom line the collection is both fun and serious.

I think one of the items that truly amused me was the 1970 smoke detector picture. It is too complicated for me to explain why they aren't safe. Way too technical for me. :-) You can find it under the Radioactive Consumer Products category. Click the detector alarm image to get a larger image with an explanation.

Historical Instrumentation Collection
http://www.orau.org/ptp/museumdirectory.htm

Chicago World's Fair 1933-1934

Another World's Fair. One that I never hear about. Seems like almost every time I see a piece in the news or on tv about a past World's Fair, it's about the 1939 NY World's Fair.

A Century of Progress Exposition 1933-1934
http://www.cityclicker.net/chicfair/

Gas Prices Global Update

Update: This is a follow up from my earlier post.

I just came across the Australian Institute Of Petroleum (AIP). It has charts for the global petrol and diesel prices (taxes include) in 2007 for OECD countries. I believe OECD stands for "Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development "

So, it looks like Turkey had the highest petrol prices in 2007, while Switzerland had the highest diesel prices. Their taxes are very high too. Wow! Mexico did the best in both categories. If you look at the "bigger picture", you'll see that the US prices are nothing compare to those other countries. Wow! I guess I should feel blessed I don't have to pay like $8 per gallon.

AIP International Price Comparison
http://www.aip.com.au/pricing/internationalprices.htm

The Gas Myths & Tips

With the gas prices going crazy, I thought this article was great. I just finished reading it and would like to share it.

CNN 6 gas-saving myths
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/12/autos/ways_to_not_save_gas/index.htm?postversion=2008051515

Here are two more excellent articles with additional tips. The second link also provides car related data.

Budget Travel Tips & Strategies To Save On Gas
http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2006/05/24/AR2006052401217.html

Edmunds Fuel Economy
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/index.html


GAS STATION PRICES LINKS (US & Canada Only): Before I go on, I'd like to note that I don't have global data for the rest of the world (couldn't find anything current), but I did read that in Europe the highest petrol prices, are way much higher than the US gas prices. I'm not talking about two or three bucks more. I'm talking double the price.

The following two links are my favorites. They are easy to navigate through, and you don't have type anything to find what you are looking for.

Gas Buddy (For The US & Canada)
http://www.gasbuddy.com/

Fuel Me Up
http://www.fuelmeup.com/

For these two, you have to do a search. It can be a drag if you don't know what to look for.

Gas Price Watch
http://www.gaspricewatch.com/

Mapquest Gas Prices
http://gasprices.mapquest.com/